The Magical Phantom: Redux
by TheIceRaven
Summary: Danny flees into the Ghost Zone after all of his family and friends end up dead after another bout with Vlad where Clockwork tells him about a new world that could use another young hero. So, after changing Danny into an 11yo but letting him retain his memories and powers, Clockwork ships him off to Hogwarts to be a wizard and help in the fight against Voldemort. REDUX.
1. Haunted Beginnings

The Magical Phantom

Chapter One: Haunted Beginnings

* * *

Danny Fenton shot up in the emergency room with a startled cry and a major headache.

He quickly looked around, determining he was in the hospital and begun to take deep breaths. At first, he had no idea why.

He looked down, seeing his torn and tattered t-shirt with cuts and gashed and bruises along his arms and glimpsing his ruffled hair and bruised face in the reflection from the TV in the corner of the room. He'd been in a fight, it seemed, but with who?

His baby blue eyes drifted to the other side of the room, just now registering its other occupant.

In the hospital bed across the room, looking no better than he did, was his archenemy and fellow half-ghost Vlad Masters. With a start, Danny's eyes flickered green as he turned his arm intangible, letting the IV fall out of his arm and swung his legs around and moved to stand, ignoring the dizziness he felt.

Danny remembered. He remembered everything.

The fight with Vlad, the other ghosts causing panic, his friends and parents trying to help, the explosion. Danny remembered everything.

Gone.

They were all gone.

Tucker, Sam, Jazz, Mom, Dad, Lancer, Valerie.

They had all been in Casper High when it exploded. No, Danny thought angrily, _when it was bombed._

It was too much for Danny to think of at the moment. It was all too new, too fresh. It was too real. He glanced over at his fellow halfa. Vlad was the only one who could understand him. He was the only one who knew what it was like to walk the line of life and death. He was the only one who had also lost everything when Casper High exploded.

But he couldn't go with Vlad.

If he went with Vlad, _he_ would become a reality in this timeline. And Danny had promised his friends that he would never turn into that. Even now that they were gone, Danny had no intention of breaking that promise. He would _never_ turn into Dan and _never_ go with Vlad.

So he did the only thing he could do and scanned the room. No cameras. That made things a lot easier for him as he transformed, feeling the chill of his ghost form while the white rings rolled up and down his form as always. Even his HAZMAT suit was torn and scuffed but his bruises and cuts seemed to fade a little. His healing factor was enhanced, but it always worked faster in his ghost form compared to his human form.

Danny Phantom quickly slipped out of the hospital intangibly. He knew Vlad would wake up before anybody got back to them, too, just like he had. They weren't expecting them to be able to do much yet, not yet aware that they weren't totally human. So, Danny felt no remorse at leaving Vlad behind and did the only thing he could think of. He flew straight home, floated downstairs through the floor and jumped into the Ghost Zone.

He just had to keep flying.

* * *

"I can't bring them back." Clockwork stated.

Danny stood behind him, his shoulders falling slightly.

"I know." He whispered in a defeated tone. "I didn't think you would, after last time."

They both floated there in silence for a few moments before Danny spoke up again.

"I just needed a place to stay. Somewhere far away from Amity, far away from Vlad." Danny told Clockwork. "I can't go with him, Clockwork. I can't, but there's nobody else they'd send me too."

"You can't stay here." Clockwork said sternly. Danny looked down. "However, I know of a place that a hero like you could be needed."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, not understanding.

"There's worlds out there, Daniel, where things are very different. `This world could really use you." Clockwork said cryptically.

Danny thought only for a few moments.

"What would I need to do?" Danny Phantom, ghostly hero, had returned.

* * *

"And you're sure you want to do this, Daniel?" Clockwork asked the young halfa.

It had been nearly a week since Vlad's attack on Danny's family and friends. Danny had been hiding out with Clockwork since, learning all he could about the new world he was being sent to before he was thrust away from everything he had grown up with and more.

The Master of Overly-Complicated Riddles had told him 'everything he needed to know' for now. There was a war going on at this very moment in some other world and he could help be part of the solution in. Only, there was supposed to be someone there already who was destined to end the war. But, Clockwork knew what was best and thus, the responsibility of stopping the Wizarding War was split between the Potter boy and the young Phantom. The Observants were against this course of action, obviously, but who cares, they were nothing but one-eyed annoyances as far as Danny or Clockwork was concerned.

The only catch so far seemed to be that, in order to properly help, Danny had to attend the school this 'Potter boy' and friends were going to soon attend where starting yearlings were eleven. Danny was already almost fifteen. Clockwork had thus offered a solution, which was why currently Danny was human, standing beside a weirdly large stopwatch.

"No," Danny said nervously, glancing between the time device and its master. "But I don't really have much of a choice."

Clockwork only nodded and swiped his time-staff, sending the hands on the stopwatch spinning rapidly in a counter-clockwise motion and causing a blinding flash of light to emit over Danny's form. A few moments later, the hands on the clock stopped spinning and the light died down to reveal a shorter, younger, eleven year-old Danny.

Luckily, he was very much still Danny, just shorter and even thinner than he was moments ago. His classic outfit seemed to remain largely the same, same the thin red line that now slashed through the filled red circle on his shirt.

"Did it work?" The now pre-teen Danny asked. He winced at the sound of his own voice, which was higher now.

"Can you still access your ghost form and powers?" Clockwork asked.

The other difference from when he was eleven. He was, obviously, allowed to keep his halfa status and memories of being older than he looked. Danny shrugged and triggered his transformation, feeling the cold that had been inside of him since the accident and pushed it out, forcing the rings of light to travel his body once more.

It appeared that Phantom had changed more than Fenton did, because gone was the HAZMAT suit that had become so familiar to him. He was a little disappointed and a lot confused considering the thing had become like a second skin to him. He was kind of going to miss it.

Now, Phantom wore a white, zipper less vest on top of a black t-shirt stylized with the DP emblem in white on his chest, made viewable thanks to his open vest. He now had white fingerless gloves and black sweat pants that had a white stripe going down both pant legs all tied together with snow-white combat boots. Although his eyes still shined an otherworldly green, it appeared that Phantom had gone casual.

"And what of your other powers?" Clockwork asked.

Danny quickly tested out all his powers. Flickering from invisibility to intangibility, letting himself float a few feet off the ground and charging Ecto-energy up in his fists. All the major ones down, he noted, as he pulled at his cryokinesis. After he felt his ice powers rush to his hands, he began to start his Ghostly Wail, but cut it off once he felt the power began to build.

"All work like a charm, Clockwork." Danny said, transforming back to his now normal eleven year-old self. "Is this where I have to handle things myself from?" He jibbed at the time master as he picked up his suitcase even though he knew the answer. It didn't matter, though, he was used to handling things himself.

"I'll always be watching over you, Daniel, whether you believe it or not. Everything is set up to how it should be, all you need to do is follow your guide." The time master informed him.

"Guide?" Danny asked in confusion.

"You will be getting a guide who will deliver to you your acceptance letter as well as make sure you are fully prepared for school. Remember, when asked for your key check your back left pocket, and you're a cat person." Clockwork cleared up.

Sort of.

"Acceptance letter? Key? Cat person? Clockwork, speak Eng-" Danny started to reprimand before he and his suitcase were consumed in a white light and were completely gone once it cleared.

Clockwork smiled a bit as the light disappeared and turned to his monitor, watching Danny land safely.

It wasn't exactly a whole new world Clockwork sent the boy too. It was very much the same Earth; just a hidden part of it that Danny hadn't known existed before. It was for that reason Clockwork sighed as he turned to the next monitor, seeing Vlad sleeping soundly and the next, showing Danielle bouncing on a hotel room bed.

Clockwork sighed again, pausing time and creating two more giant stopwatches beside the other two halfas.

"All is as it should be." He reminded himself, peering out at the three halfas across his monitor screens. Danny needed this. The world needed this.

"Good luck, young Phantom."

* * *

 **Okay so I'm sure you all have some questions.**

 **I had a particularly rough few years and basically I almost failed out of college due to working two jobs and trying to overexert myself too much. I'd rather not talk too much about it, but I was in a really bad place, physically and mentally.**

 **I've recently begun writing again and I'm sorry to anyone who's continued waiting for me on updates, I feel really bad I've kept you all waiting. But all of my stories are really, really far away from the level I feel like I can write at now. Which is why, rather than just try and pick up where I left off, I felt like it would be better for me, you all and this story if I gave it a rewrite.**

 **I chose this story in particular because it was always the one I felt the worst about not finishing (this and Phantom of Heroes but that was never only mine) so this is the story I'm going to try and use to show you all I'm trying my hand at writing again and hopefully I've gotten better.**

 **A lot of things will be the same, as I cannot say for sure yet what things I'll change but the core of the story will still be the same. This chapter was more like a prologue than a chapter, and chapters in the future will surely be a lot longer and closer to the length you were all used to before if not longer.**

 **I hope you all understand why I've decided this and that you show this redux the same love and affection you showed the other. Please don't forget to R &R even if it is only to bitch me out, I don't mean to be petty but if it seems like not enough people are enjoying the redux then it'll pretty much just stop and maybe I'll try writing something new entirely, but I want to give this story another shot first. **

**And with this story, I'll start replying to your reviews in the authors notes of the chapters if you like, all you have to do is ask by adding TheIceRaven at the end of your review.**


	2. Wizarding Ghost-Boy

The Magical Phantom

Chapter Two: Wizarding Ghost-Boy

* * *

"Dammit Clockwork," Danny muttered to himself as he seemed to flash into this new place. "Should've known I wasn't gonna get any kind of a direct answer from him."

He sighed as he brushed himself off before looking up to check his surroundings. He found himself now in an old, beat up bar-type place with a long wooden table with more wooden chairs than it looked like the table itself could handle scattered throughout the place. Directly above the table was an old light fixture that gave the room old, rustic-type feels that wasn't helped by the square window cut out of the wall to his left, housing the presumable barkeep.

Unconsciously, Danny's eyes flashed green while he scanned the room. It was useful to do so, he had learned, to determine any possible threats or exits immediately. Even when it seemed there were none, it only took an instant for any kind of environment to turn into a battlefield and Danny's green eyes signified the use of his ghostly abilities helping him out, the ghost instincts inside of him much better at seizing up threats and movement patters than Danny's human side no matter how much better it had gotten over the last year.

They continued on, sweeping the room and sizing up everyone in it and determining their threat levels to him in an instant in addition to already having four different escape routes planned out before the man he had deemed the biggest threat in the room, a black-robed stranger, to move.

Now satisfied, Danny's eyes faded back to blue just in time for a familiar-yet-unfamiliar feeling to creep up his spine and snake its way from his mouth in a puff of air. Ghost Sense, his instincts told him, but it was different enough that his mind told him this was different, something else.

Ghost Sense was a bone-chilling feeling, cold enough to make even he, who had a natural body temperature of 74.8F in his human form and _a lot_ colder in ghost form to feel the chill no matter what form he took. Ghost Sense always gave him the shivers, no matter how used to the feeling he was, his body always involuntarily shivered at the cold, numbing sensation the Ghost Sense drove up his spine.

This wasn't bone chilling; this was more of a… tingling sensation that gently crawled its way slowly up his spine and out his mouth as opposed to the body racking chill-feeling Ghost Sense gave him. This, too, came out of his mouth in a puff of mist but it wasn't the usual icy blue Danny was accustomed to seeing, further proving that this wasn't just his Ghost Sense. Instead, this seemed to be made up of a mess of colors, everything from whites, pinks, yellows and blues.

He managed to look past it, however, for the moment because more movement caught his eye. The man in black robes from before, who Danny had deemed the largest threat in the room, was approaching him. The mans black hair was just as black as his robes, making him ominous looking enough that Danny didn't fire a ghost ray at him out of pure curiosity. Danny even nodded to the man once he got close enough, although his guard was still up.

"Daniel Fenton?" The man asked him simply, his voice strict.

That didn't mean he wasn't an enemy, Danny knew, but he decided to believe this was the guide Clockwork had spoke up. He was still confident he could get away if he was wrong, so he went for a handshake as he replied.

"Yeah, that's me but call me Danny. And you are?" He replied.

"Severus Snape, your soon-to-be Professor at Hogwarts." Snape told him, his monotone in full effect. He seemed to glance down curiously at Danny's outstretched hand for a few seconds before deciding to shake it.

The grip was firm, Snape noticed, much too firm to be coming from an eleven year old kid, but he let it go for now. It probably wasn't any of his business.

Surprisingly enough, Clockwork _had_ informed him that he'd be going to a Wizarding School. He hadn't mentioned the name of it or even the fact that a future teacher would be playing his guide, but he did tell him it was a school for wizards and witches so Clockwork, one and Danny, zip for now.

"So, are you going to show me the way to this school or am I just supposed to figure that out myself?" Danny asked after a few seconds of standing still. Snape scowled.

"No. I'm here to get you your supplies to prepare you for your first year." Snape told him, reaching into his robe and pulling out a rolled up piece of paper tied together with a blue ribbon.

Danny took it and gently undid the ribbon, letting the piece of parchment fall open to reveal the writing it had previously hidden. It seemed to be a list of some sort, he realized as he glared at it, realizing it was probably everything he needed for the dreaded _school_ that he would be attending soon. But alas, he began to read through it.

* * *

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First year students will require:_

 _Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _One winter coat (black with silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' tags should carry nametags_

 _COURSE BOOKS_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

 _By Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic_

 _By Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory_

 _By Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_

 _By Emeric Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

 _By Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions_

 _By Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

 _By Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection_

 _By Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl or a cat or a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS_

 _ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

* * *

Then, at the very bottom there was a signature that Danny didn't bother to read. He was still focused on the massive list of books he needed to barely start learning magic.

"Where can I even get all of this stuff? Isn't magic, like, a secret?" Danny asked incredulously. Snape only rolled his eyes.

"Diagon Ally. Where else?" Snape said it in a tone that implied it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And with that, the Potions Professor turned away and started walking deeper into the Leaky Cauldron, the name of the bar, which Danny had learned from the sign above the bar beside the menu at some point while Snape was talking earlier. Danny watched as Snape disappeared through another door before he supposed he should follow, lugging his suitcase after him and following Snape's path.

He arrived just in time to see Snape tap the wall twice with a stick and Danny presumed both that there was more to that sequence (at least he hoped, otherwise that was a really lame entry knock) and his wand (at least he hoped, otherwise that was a really lame entry key) and open a doorway in the wall. Snape turned to the boy with a sneer as Danny approached closer.

"There's no time for dilly-dallying, boy. Follow me." Snape reprimanded.

"Well, maybe if I was where we were going I would've been quicker to follow the stranger in a black cape into the back of a bar." Danny retorted.

"I thought you'd be bright enough to follow my lead." Snape glared back.

"I thought you professor types were bright enough to give proper instructions." Danny held his ground at Snape's glare.

Snape sighed, aggravated but he didn't reply. Whether it was because he simply didn't want to or because he thought Danny had a point was undetermined but they both let the subject drop as they crossed through the doorway and landed in a crowded ally. The minute he stepped through the doorway, the tingling sensation that crept up Danny's spine before had returned even stronger. Sure enough, the multi-colored mist came out of his mouth in a puff once more and Danny pretended to shiver reflexively, throwing off anyone who seemed to be paying attention.

"What was that?" His future professor asked.

Anyone who hadn't been close enough to see the strange colors, anyway. It appeared he'd underestimated his teachers' observatory skills this time. Danny made a note to himself to be extra careful around Snape in the future and put on his best-confused face.

"What was what?" Danny played dumb, putting on a show of looking around him.

Snape's eyes narrowed on the young boy but he didn't say anything else about the incident, choosing to focus on the large building in the center of a fork in the path instead. The words 'Gringotts Bank' were carved atop the large doors, causing Danny to grow uncomfortable.

"Why are we going to a bank?" Danny asked curiously.

"You've got to pay for your school supplies, don't you? Unless you already have wizarding money on your person, which I very much doubt, the bank is our first stop." Snape responded evenly.

Danny only nodded his reply, choosing to keep his mouth shut as they approached. He was secretly dreading the bank visit since he probably had no money whatsoever in his bank. Did Snape know that already? Or was he expecting him to already have an account? Maybe there was money in there given to him by the school Snape wanted him to withdrawal?

The American teen didn't get much more time to dwell on the matter. They walked through the doors and Danny did his thing again, scanning around the room for potential threats and exits. His green eyes dulled once again after plotting two primary and two secondary escape routes and re-establishing Snape as the biggest threat in the room and not a moment too soon since it seemed said biggest threat noticed the halfas rigid posture.

"They're not going to attack, Fenton. They may give you lip, but they're harmless." Snape told him, thinking he was on edge simply because the bank employees were Goblins rather than people.

Danny didn't bother correcting him that it was just a habit of his due to being constantly stalked, attacked and kidnapped by the souls of the deceased that now lived in an alternate dimension because he was technically not alive nor dead. Instead, he just nodded.

The two made their way up to the Goblin-like creature behind the tallest desk at the end of the hallway, where Danny assumed most- if not all- the transactions took place.

"Can I help you?" The goblin asked impatiently, as if he was annoyed he was disturbed from doing absolutely nothing. Danny glared.

"Probably not, but we'll ask anyway since you offered so nicely." Danny snarked. He noticed Snape smirk a little while the banker growled.

"Whaddaya want?" He asked harshly, his beady eyes staring at the Fenton boy sternly. Danny wasn't fazed.

"Mr. Fenton would like to make a withdrawal." Snape spoke up, trying to avoid another of Danny's snippy comebacks.

"That depends." The banking goblin said. No such luck on Snape's part.

"On what, how high you can count?" Danny quipped back.

Snape couldn't help the smirk he held as the goblin growled out a reply at the Fenton boy.

"Just give me your key." He said angrily. It appeared he had given up on trying to outwit the child already, much to Snape's relief.

Danny's eyes widened a little as he thought back to part of Clockwork's parting words. _"When asked for your key check your back left pocket,"_ The stopwatch had told him. Danny did as his mentor had instructed him, reaching down into his jean pocket to, sure enough, find a little golden key.

Clockwork, two and Danny, nada.

Danny handed the key over to the banking goblin who pulled at the paper tag attached to the back of the key, reading the vault number written on it in green ink.

"Let's go, you're marked down as Vault 412." The goblin said, walking away. Snape followed.

"Jeez, doesn't anybody give a simple 'follow me' anymore?" Danny muttered as he trudged behind the two.

* * *

Danny shook away the dizziness he felt after dismounting the ride contraption these goblins used to travel through the bank systems. Flying was one thing and that was another.

Still, he lagged behind the goblin and Snape as they approached a large vault door with the numbers on said door matching the ones the banking goblin read out earlier, 412.

The Fenton youth stood nervously by, expecting the goblin to open the vault and find nothing but spider webs inside. He was pleasantly confused, however, when there was stacks and piles of coins, both gold and silver sitting on the vaults floor.

"Take as much as you need." The goblin said waving his arm.

Danny, not daring to look at Snape and trying to pretend he knew how much he needed and how much this stuff was worth, stepped forward over to the small mountain of coins that was contained in the corner reached his waist. On top of the thing was an envelope with a neon green stamp. Upon opening it, he found it was written in glowing green ink as well and begun to read.

" _Hello Daniel,_

 _This vault holds what remains left of my old wizarding currency once upon a time. As that life is long since past me, you are welcome to use it how you see fit. The gold pieces are called Galleons while the silver pieces are called Sickles. There is a bronze piece also, called a Knut, but I spent the last of those centuries ago._

 _A few handfuls should suffice for you to pay for your school equipment, but you may want to take some extra just in case you get lonely._

 _A Timeless Fortune,_

 _Charles Work."_

Danny sighed, still hopelessly confused. Clockwork had once been a part of this world? Was that before or after he became a ghost? And how did he get all this money? The hybrid rolled his eyes, deciding he was okay with the fact he might never get answers and began to stuff handfuls of 'Galleons' or whatever into his pockets.

"He's a strange lad, isn't he?" He heard the goblin whisper to Snape.

He didn't hear Snape give an audible response, but it was very possible he only nodded his opinion. Danny had to bite his tongue not to reply, as a normal human wouldn't have heard him say that. Instead, he huffed as he turned back around as if he was tired from shoveling handfuls of currency into his pants.

"Where to next?" Danny asked casually, strolling past the two and back outside the vault while side-eyeing the goblin.

"You still need robes, books and a wand." Snape replied as the goblin shut the vault behind them.

Danny sighed, not bothering to wonder where the 'follow me' was anymore, and resigned himself to a day of shopping. At least he seemed to be able to quell his new 'power' down, he no longer felt uncomfortable with the constant tingle he felt on his spine, although he felt it grow more intense the closer he was to Snape.

* * *

They had almost gotten everything by now, clothes and equipment and most of his books were handled. All that was really left was two books and his wand. So, Danny tried to hurry through the bookstore they were in, Flourish and Blotts, to find the books he had left. Finally, after wandering down isles he seemed to find the book on Transfiguration, whatever that was.

However, once he located the book he saw it was already in another boy's hand. He turned to look at the shelf the blond boy was facing, but there were none left.

"Hey, do you know where I can get another one of those things?" Danny asked, pointing at the book the other boy was holding.

The boy seemed to look over him, grey eyes narrowing on his form before his face turned into a sneer, apparently concluding his dislike for the boy.

"Bugger off, I don't have time for filth." The blond boy snarled. Danny glared.

"I asked for your help, not your attitude." Danny replied. "Which, by the way, still isn't as sharp as your ears." He quipped back.

"Why you little-" The boy cut himself off, noticing Snape appear from around the corner behind Danny, but did little to indicate this. Danny, however, spoke again.

"Little? I'm only shorter than you because of that big head of yours-" Danny started, only to be cut off by Snape.

"What do you think your doing, Fenton? Picking on classmates already, are we?" Snape asked, moving past Danny to stand by the other boy. Danny glared at the self-satisfied look on his face.

"Hey, all I did was ask for help, he's the one who-" Danny started, only to be cut off again, and not by his future professor.

"Did nothing wrong, I'm sure." Another man said, entering the hallway. He was just as tall as Snape and with longer hair, but just as platinum blond as the kid. The brats' father, Danny figured.

Danny glared at nothing. This hallway between bookshelves was quickly becoming too crowded for his liking and while he was never one to back down from a fight, that rule was usually reserved for situations he could solve with a few Ecto-blasts. Otherwise, he had to turn the other cheek especially since it seemed Snape agreed with the two others.

"Yeah, and Stalin was sure he and Hitler had a deal but look where that got him." Danny muttered before turning around. "I'm gonna go look for another book on Transfiguration." He said, moving over to the next isle.

"Good idea." Snape agreed with him, turning to leave the isle the other way. "And your other remaining book should be this way."

Danny was certain the only reason Snape was helping him look for books rather than waiting outside was because it would cut about twenty minutes from the errand overall. He hadn't really done much of anything except show him where to go up until now. So, they both left the isle going in different directions and leaving the two others to their business. Unfortunately for them, Danny had enhanced hearing.

"Did he lay a hand on you, Draco?" The blond man's voice carried.

"No," The boy replied back. "He was all talk."

"Good, I don't need another reason to disagree with sending you to Hogwarts. As if it letting mudbloods in and being run by Albus Dumbledore wasn't enough, now they're going around accepting American wizards?" The man ranted and raved.

Danny could only wonder what he was going on about. What were a mudblood and a Dumbledore? He decided not to think too much off it, but he noted to himself to at least ask Snape about who they were after leaving.

Finally, Danny found another copy of the Transfiguration book he needed just seconds before Snape appeared with the other book still unchecked, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._

"Who were they?" Danny asked once they stepped out of Flourish and Blotts.

"That was Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco, who will be attending Hogwarts this year as a first year. It would do you well not to get any further on your bad side than you already have." Snape warned, not turning to look at him.

"The only reason I already have is because that snot-nosed brat-" Danny started, only for Snape to once again cut him off.

"Yes, well, you mess with that 'snot-nosed brat' and you get Lucius Malfoy and trust me, Fenton, you don't want to get Lucius Malfoy." Snape said simply. "He could have you buried alive."

"Been there, done that." Danny muttered quietly, opting to drop the problem for now as he and Snape continued on their not-so-merry way.

* * *

Everything had been acquired. Robes, books, whatever the hell a cauldron was, even the ridiculous pointy hat was bought and Danny couldn't picture himself wearing that anywhere, let alone often. It looked big enough to use as target practice, though. The only thing they had yet to get was, in typical Fenton fashion, also the most important thing; a wand.

As he and Snape were heading towards someplace called "Ollivander's" in order to get said wand, Danny saw a store that caught his attention; a pet store.

"Hey, can we go there first?" Danny asked, stopping in front of the store and peeking inside through the front window.

"Fine, but make it quick." Snape scowled at him, walking slowly behind the fast-paced Danny as they entered the shop.

Danny walked forward, leaving the doorway to be surrounded by cages on all sides. Even now, his eyes flashed green as they scanned the shop, addressing every animal as if they were first and foremost a threat. After hardly two seconds he went from objects to escape routes, planning out two primary and two backup exit strategies.

It was easier, mentally, to not worry about others escape routes. It was less worrying to not have to worry about bringing Tucker or Sam or Jazz out of harms way with him like the countless times he did at school or the mall. But that didn't mean he didn't instinctively start to do it every time. He ignored both the feeling of loneliness and the bell that chimed, signifying another's entry to the store until he felt his spine tingle more.

Not as much as it did around Snape, who Danny could still feel on the far side of the store, but still a presence reminiscent of when he had encountered the blond boy back at the bookstore. Danny decided to ignore it for now, opting to instead look out at all the animals in cages. Snakes, owls and toads all perked up when he passed by, like his arrival was the most exciting thing to happen all week.

He passed most of them without a second thought, hoping for something to stick out to him. He then got his wish in the form of a cat that was mostly black, but with white paws and a white-tipped tail. The feline's emerald green eyes locked with his blue one's as if they could see the otherworldly green just glowing beneath the surface. Neither pair of eyes moved away for almost a minute. Their staring contest was only broken by the cat, which flickered its eyes over Danny's shoulder instead in sync with the tingling feeling creeping up on him again.

Danny turned around, curious, and his eyes fell upon a girl. She looked to be about his age, but was a head taller thanks to her bushy brown hair. She was wearing a pair of black robes, the ones he had gotten earlier, and her brown eyes were set on the owl cage in front of her that held a large white but speckled owl.

He watched, confused, as she turned her head to the side and outstretched her arm to open the cage door. Ordinarily, Danny wouldn't pay any mind to such an action but the owl had signs of aggression that he had come to recognize in birds thanks to Vlad's stupid ghost-vulture henchmen being consistent in their kidnapping attempts a while back.

This owl in particular had those glazed over eyes with dilated, focused pupils, was leaning forward, had twitching talons and the feathers on its back were ruffled up just slightly. Danny knew it was ready to launch.

Danny cried out, "GET DOWN!" only seconds before the bird let out a loud "SQUAWK!" with both charging the brown-haired girl. Luckily for her, Danny had plenty of practice with knocking people out of the way of incoming projectiles and with a little help from his ghostly reflexes, he had tackled the girl to the ground just before the large owl flew past where her head would've been.

Danny lay there covering the girl with his body, holding her head in his hands while they pressed against the floor. After waiting a few moments to ensure the bird wouldn't turn around to target the girl, Danny got up from lying on the girl and into a standing position, holding his hand out to help her up as she rolled over, facing upwards. She took his outstretched hand with a smile.

"Thanks for your help back there. My head'd surely be owl food if you hadn't been here." She thanked him as he pulled her to her feet.

"No problem. Danny, Danny Fenton." Danny introduced himself. He moved to go for a handshake but then realized their hands were still clasped together. Instead, she shook their already conjoined hands as she smiled again.

"I'm Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you." She said happily, their hands finally falling apart.

"Why'd you have that cage open, anyway? The sign out front says no handling without supervision." Danny asked curiously.

Her eyes nervously darted to the side, which made Danny think she was going to lie, before they moved again to look at him, but while her head was tilted downward. So she was sorry about it, Danny realized, figuring his first impression was correct, as his instincts were those of a honed-battler. She seemed like a rules oriented girl, judging by her proper posture combined with the fact she was already wearing her school uniform. The way she spoke gave it away and erased any doubt in Danny's mind; the eloquent, punctual and careful way she spoke reminded him entirely of Jazz.

"I just thought he needed a bit of company." Hermione began. "He was the only one in here who didn't seem excited I was in here, the poor thing. I thought if I showed him attention he'd be happier, he didn't look all that dangerous a minute ago. Guess I was wrong." She explained.

Well, not everyone could be expected to know the signs of a bird ready to attack so well, he supposed, so it seemed like fair reasoning. He was about to reply to tell her as much, but he was cut off buy what he couldn't help would become a familiar cry of,

"Fenton!" From Professor Snape.

The future student duo turned to see the robed man standing there with a stranger who was presumably the storeowner. The owner had in his hand a large carry-cage that now housed the large, speckled owl that Hermione had let loose a moment ago that was now seemingly glaring at them through the cage bars.

"I recognize you! You're Professor Snape from Hogwarts! I've read all about the classes we'll be having this year, you still teach Potions, right?" Hermione asked eagerly, practically bouncing on her heels.

However, instead of answering or even acknowledging the young girl, Snape continued to yell at Danny instead.

"What in Dumbledore's name possessed you to let this bird free? Did you even see the sign in the front of the store that clearly states not to handle the animals!" Snape continued on, glaring down at the Fenton boy.

Danny didn't reply at first, instead sneaking a glance over at Hermione. She looked scared out of her mind, the poor girl. Her fingers twitched, her feet shuffled, her eyes were bouncing all over the room and he could practically hear her teeth grinding together. She was probably dreading the punishment Snape would deal out to her after learning she was the one who set the bird free.

There was a sliver of him that wanted to rat her out and save his own ass from being on even worse terms with Snape before the school year had officially begun. But he knew he wouldn't do that. He'd rather run with it than throw her under that bus, she was obviously much more afraid of anything Snape could do than he was and run with it he did. Just in time, as it seemed like Hermione's nerves got the better of her and she opened her mouth to speak.

"I was thinking 'hey, maybe this'll get Snape angry'." Danny replied sarcastically, cutting Hermione off. "What do you think I was thinking? I wanted to pet it."

Hermione looked over at him, trying her hardest to clamp her jaw shut as if the truth would spill out once it opened again. Snape, for his part, only scowled harder at Danny.

"I'm sorry, okay? I've just never seen an owl that close before and it looked so cool." Danny tried to amend, at least a little. Snape glared for a few more seconds before he simply sighed.

"Ten points from-. Ten points from whatever house you end up in, Fenton." Snape settled on, before he waved his arm over to the bird still trapped in the carry-cage. "I suppose you'll take this one, then?"

Danny looked down at the bird in the cage, briefly thinking it over. The owl only seemed to glare as it let out a low, angry squawk. Danny glared back before his eyes drifted behind him as he was reminded of his final moments in Clockwork's tower.

Clockwork, three and Danny, zilch.

"Actually," Danny started, looking back to the cat's green eyes once more. They were focused on him right back and Danny knew he had found a new companion. "I'm more of a cat person."

* * *

Shade, Danny decided. That was his cats' name. Of course he had checked with the little guy first and it seemed like anything was a better alternative than 'Exhibit 14' for him, so Shade it was.

Meanwhile, Hermione had somehow convinced her parents, Alice and Walt, to finish their shopping alongside he and Snape since Ollivander's was the only place left that both grounds had to visit. Snape seemed to be answering the Grangers' questions in his own brief way while Danny and Hermione talked aimlessly until they wandered through the wand shops doors.

Both eleven year olds were stunned to silence at the sight of the inside. It didn't even seem like the place had walls, just boxes and boxes that each, assumingly, held a wand. The two parties stood in silence for a few moments, waiting, but Danny and Snape's patience quickly grew thin with them shouting out a "HELLO?" and an "OLLIVANDER!" respectively.

They were replied to with a few seconds of silence before a rolling ladder appeared from the infinite mass of boxes and a large man jumped down, happily greeting them all with a large smile.

"More first years, eh? I suppose you yearlings are lookin' for wands?" Ollivander asked.

"Yes, please." Hermione and her parents harmonized. Danny and Snape merely nodded.

"Which one of you wants to step up first?" He asked the future students.

Hermione turned to Danny with almost pleading puppy eyes. She wouldn't ask, he knew, but she wasn't above the shining eyes. He rolled his eyes as he stepped back, gesturing out with his hand in a 'ladies first' movement. He rolled his eyes at her delighted squeal in a friendly-mocking way, knowing that she was much more excited over this than he was.

"Raise your wand arm." He told Hermione.

After no more than two attempts, the wand she had in her hand glowed phenomenally bright and the glow seemed to dance down around the wand and reach her hand. Ollivander nodded his satisfaction, closing the box while Hermione beamed down at her new wand. The wand she ended up with was made from vine with a dragon heartstring core and measured in at ten and three quarter inches. Hermione was ecstatic even as she sat moved back to let Danny step forward next.

"You're up next, kid." Ollivander said happily. "Raise your wand arm."

He hesitated momentarily before raising his right arm. He was good with both hands, really, but that was because he had to learn to utilize his left hand as much as his right once he started fighting ghosts. That point was hammered into him hard when he ended up needing to fight handicapped for a week when Skulker once broke his right arm so bad that it healed wrong even with his enhanced healing. It was nearly a complete week later when he re-broke it to let it heal right and even after that it was extremely sore for days.

So, he had to effectively learn to do everything from holding a soda can to aiming an Ecto-blast with his left hand. Nevertheless, he still used his right hand more even if only instinctively so it would be more beneficial to have the wand suited to that arm. He stood still for a moment while Ollivander left to go get a wand for him to try. How long could it take, right?

* * *

Two hours.

Ollivander had been searching for Danny's wand for over two hours at this point, nearing the halfway point of the approaching third hour. Alice, Walt and Snape had all dozed off while sitting up in chairs somewhere around wand sixty-four while Danny was beginning to tire of waving his arm back and forth so much.

Thus far he had knocked over countless shelves, broke multiple glass frames, exploded three of the wood chairs in the room and one wand had even flat out refused him and floated out of his hand. Then of course there was the wand that was so charged full of energy it begun shooting magic blasts everywhere once he picked it up, including straight at Snape's head. Danny wasn't looking forward to _that_ discussion later.

But both Ollivander and Hermione were still excited. Ollivander relished the 'challenge' Danny presented him with and Hermione was just excited to learn so much about the different wands, materials and their meanings. Ollivander gasped and snapped his fingers as if he came to a conclusion before he bolted away down an isle.

"Did he get the perfect wand idea or did he just give up and run away?" Danny asked Hermione, who only shrugged.

Danny's question was answered in the form of Ollivander returning carrying two boxes, one black and one white.

"These wands are like no others I have made and are a part of a set unlike no other. Instead of being made of one wood, they combine two. Wands made from two woods are rare, the practice was ended decades ago to limit the consumption of wand woods and we were almost out of several more rare materials. But, these were the only two wands I used that technique with and they haven't chosen a wizard or witch since." Ollivander said, setting them down.

He opened the black box first, pulling out a thin wand that had two woods coiling around each other but melded together to let the wand be flat. The wand had bubbles in it, the one closest to the bottom being clear and having a silver scale-type thing inside of it.

Danny nodded and picked it up, waving it around. It didn't explode or float away, so that was a good sign, but Ollivander shook his head.

"Close, but not quite." He took it back and put the white box on top. "Try this one." He prompted.

Danny opened the box himself and inside was a wand similar to the one he just put back. It also had light and dark woods coiling around each other, but more of a tan and obsidian than black and white. This wand was thicker towards the base, easily holding another scale in a bubble without bulging out of the wand but the point was narrow enough to fit between two of his teeth.

He picked it up and waved his aching arm, pleasantly surprised when green sparks of light came from the top. Ollivander nodded and sighed with relief that he had found a wand suited to someone as troublesome as Danny while Hermione beamed as Ollivander went into details about Danny's new wand.

"Both wands are dual-wood wands powered by Thestral scales and thirteen inches long, both utterly unyielding. But the other one's woods work in harmony together, Dogwood and Ebony. Yours, boy, yours is Blackthorn and Beech, quite strange for individual Blackthorn and Beech wands to get along let alone work together in harmony." Ollivander explained. "Quite the strange wand you matched with."

They left soon after; Danny and Hermione waking up the others. Not long after they left Hermione was brining with excitement to talk about Danny's wand with him, eager to show off what he had learned during the nearly three hour wand store trip.

"Blackthorn wand users are pretty rare, it seems. Most people don't even meet one." She started. "Having a blackthorn wand choose you means you're a warrior and the wands in general become pretty loyal. He did say yours was unyielding, that means it won't ever stop working for you. Beech, on the other hand, rarely chooses someone on the younger end but when it does it means the person it extremely wise well beyond their years." Hermione ranted.

That made enough sense, Danny thought. He could definitely be called a warrior, having had to fight for his half-life nearly every day for a year and a half. He was in constant battle, whether with ghosts like Undergrowth, Vortex and Nocturne or people like Dash and his parents. That wasn't even counting the weird dynamic he had with Valerie and none of it scratched the surface of his relationship with Vlad.

He shoved those feelings down, focusing on the Beech part of his wand. That made sense too when you took into account the things he's experienced. He was constantly worrying about things people didn't even realize existed whether it was ghosts, apocalypses or clones.

"What about this Thestral-thingy?" Danny asked, tapping the core.

"Well," She started uncertainly. "I know Thestral tail-hairs are the cores for the wands of those who have a connection to death. A Thestral scale, though, I'm not entirely sure. I didn't see any other wand core like it and it could be a totally different meaning in wands with more than one wood." She continued on, before pausing. "Do you have any connection to death?"

Danny held back a snort and a sob.

He was only half-dead himself, had powers of the dead, was enemies with a portion of dead souls, been to the realm of the dead more times than he could count, lost his entire family and both his best friends and even defeated the 'God of the Dead' in single combat. But, he couldn't go and tell her that.

"Sorta," Danny said instead, smiling mysteriously.

* * *

 **And scene!**

 **Well, I certainly didn't expect so many people to be on board with this so quickly! It really means a lot that you guys still enjoy my writing and I'll do my best not to disappear on you all again!**

 **That being said, can you see why I felt like I could do a better job with this story? I feel like my current writing style/process has changed too much and while I feel like it's better, you guys will be the best judges so be sure to review!**

 **And to that one person who mentioned answering reviews was a cheap way to up my word count… well yeah, now that I think about it you're right. I don't want to be one of those people so disregard what I said last chapter but feel free to PM me if you'd like to have a discussion or want me to clear anything up for you.**

 **I hope to see you all return next time for Chapter Three: Phantom's Sorting!**


	3. Phantom's Sorting

The Magical Phantom

Chapter Three: Phantom's Sorting

"What the hell does Platform 9¾ mean anyway?" Danny complained to himself and his cat that was sitting on the top of the luggage cart Danny was currently wheeling. Everyone else had their animals in cages, but Shade didn't come with a cage and Danny hadn't cared to buy one so the wizarding cat was as free as could be.

Snape had sent he and Hermione on their way almost as soon as they left Ollivander's, claiming he needed to get to Hogwarts and help prepare for the introduction ceremony. Hermione had only nodded, but Danny wasn't sure; he was almost certain Snape left sooner than he needed to just to be rid of them for now.

Alas, it didn't matter as Hermione had invited him to walk to the train station with her and her parents. A little reluctantly, he agreed only because he knew he'd end up seeing them there anyway and hell, Hermione probably knew what the hell to do with the Platform 9¾ information Snape had given them.

"That's where we've got to go," Hermione started. "It's three quarters of the way between train platforms nine and ten, one of the pillars hides a portal that takes us to King's Cross, where we get on the train to Hogwarts." She explained. "I read it in a book a few weeks ago, I wanted to be ready when I came here." She said further at his questioning glance.

Danny only shrugged in response as they arrived at said platform. They came to a stop and looked around, unsure, but Danny managed to catch the sight of a ginger kid ride his luggage cart through a wall, followed by a dark haired kid nervously approaching the wall. He nudged Hermione and pointed.

"Good eye, Danny! Mum, dad, let's go!" She cried excitedly, pushing her cart over as well.

Alice and Walt only sighed at their daughters' enthusiasm, Walt dragging Hermione's trunk that wouldn't fit on her cart along with him. Danny sat back for a minute, scanning the area once more with glowing eyes. Now he could actually see the portal hidden in the column, glowing with the mix of colors that made up the new mist he was breathing now.

Danny ran at the wall next, after all of the Granger's had gone through. It was a strange feeling, passing through a wall without going intangible or being thrown through one. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

"Are your folks already here, Danny?" Alice asked sweetly as they approached the train.

Danny's chest panged.

"No," He told them. "Not today."

He didn't want to tell them the truth. He didn't want their pity looks and 'poor dears'. He didn't _deserve_ it.

"Oh, well that's too bad. We were looking forward to meeting them. It's not often we get to meet Hermione's friends parents, you know." Walt joked, nudging Hermione, who looked down.

"That's 'cause I haven't many friends, dad." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Next time then, Danny?" Alice asked, quickly changing the subject.

Danny had to fight not to let his eyes flash, blinking at least three times. He always had the problem of letting his powers leak out if he got too emotional, whether it was angry, sad or happy didn't matter. Too many emotions always equaled ghost powers; it just depended on which one.

"Yeah," He choked out, hoping he didn't sound as pathetic as he thought he did. "Next time." It was then that the trains' whistle blew and everyone knew they had to board quickly.

Danny stood there, a tad awkwardly, as Hermione and her parents exchanged goodbyes. Walt handed off the trunk to his daughter and they both waved a fond farewell to Danny before the two first years started towards the train. Danny, however, noticed Hermione lugging her trunk along and smirked, leaning down to carry it in one hand while pushing his luggage card in the other. He smiled at her dumbfounded look. Ghostly strength comes in handy quite a bit.

Hermione only shook her head, deciding to put her thoughts on how Danny so effortlessly carried her trunk aside as she stepped ahead of him, heading for one of the train compartments. Danny followed easily, trying to ignore the return of the multi-colored mist.

* * *

With their luggage safely stored away, Danny and Hermione had their compartment to themselves. They each took advantage of the fact, stretching out on their respective seats.

Danny was lying down, head against the window and staring out the door while Hermione was turned around, head against the wall, Shade in her lap and looking out the window. They both had a nice view of what they wanted; Hermione a beautiful landscape and Danny one of the entrances an attacker could come through, also covering the window thanks to the reflection provided by the window on the other side of the hallway outside their compartment.

"I hope my parents didn't scare you too badly. Sometimes they go overboard when they meet friends." Hermione apologized, half joking but half serious.

"It's cool," Danny waved off. "I know how parents can be. They were nothing but nice and polite, even if they were trying so hard at polite part."

"They seem to have taken a liking to you, maybe that's why they tried so hard." Hermione offered. "I can't remember the last time they asked to meet a friends parents."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, but Danny was unwilling to let parents be the last thing they talked about before silence set in.

"So, if you already have all the stuff you needed, why were you shopping at Diagon Ally? At a pet store, too, you didn't even get a pet." Danny changed the subject.

"I always wanted a pet of my own. Mum and dad always let me pick the dog we got but that was never, well, my own. I wanted a cat, maybe an owl, but it seems I don't have a way with birds and yours was the only cat they had." She told him, petting Shade in her lap.

"At least you seem to have a way with cats." Danny said, hearing Shade purr. "It looks like we'll be sharing mine." He joked.

Hermione laughed a little and went to speak again, but was interrupted by a knock on the wall and a kid's head sticking through the open doorway.

"Has anyone seen my toad?"

* * *

"Stupid escaping toad, stupider begging Neville and more stupid persuasive Hermione." Danny muttered to himself, moving along through the train in search for the toad. The train turned, throwing Danny into an adjacent wall. "And your stupid moving train, too."

Shade only meowed from Danny's feet in agreement. Neville, the boy with the lost toad, had bagged them to help as well after Hermione had agreed to lend her assistance. All Danny had really wanted to do was sit for a few minutes, but Hermione had pestered him that there would be plenty of time to laze around later. So, grudgingly, and making sure they heard his muttering, Danny and Shade headed west. Of course, not before Danny had mockingly proclaimed that the toad must have, "gone west, young man" to Neville.

"You went west just so you could make that reference, didn't you?" Hermione had shouted after them as they continued on their way. The way he didn't answer her was enough of an answer.

So far Danny had poked his head into several compartments looking for the toad and asking a few people if they had seem it on top of trying to listen for it with his enhanced hearing. But nobody had noticed anything and Danny could barely hear anything that even resembled the noise a toad made among all the other commotion on the train. The next compartment Danny checked, however, made him feel like he was interrupting something.

Only, he didn't care when he saw it was the boy from the bookstore again. Draco, he remembered. Draco was there standing between two boys twice his size, the three of them standing over what looked to be a girl under the mess of long blonde hair from what Danny could see. He didn't need his powers to tell him the girl was sniffling behind them, so he decided to step in.

"Didn't your mothers ever teach you not to make girls cry?" Danny asked pointedly, making him known by slamming the door shut behind him.

The three boys whirled around in an instant, spouting apologies and cover stories right away only to calm down upon realizing he was just another student. Draco in particular glared.

"You again? Didn't yours ever teach you to mind your own business?" Draco replied, smirking wider as his backup laughed along.

"She was probably too busy telling me slicking your hair back makes you look like a little girl, but I guess yours didn't do that either." Danny shot back.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Henchmen #1, as Danny had taken to calling him in the last twelve seconds, said pointing.

Danny stilled, refusing to give the boy the pleasure of knowing he had asked about him to know his name.

"No I don't," He started, but the other boy continued on like he hadn't spoken.

"This is Draco Malfoy!" Henchmen #2 finished in a wail.

"Nor do I care." Danny finished in a smirk, enjoying watching the boys' faces redden.

"You should watch your tone," Henchmen #1 said, walking forward threateningly, and Danny might've been threatened if he hadn't literally stared down the god of death.

Henchmen #1 moved to shove Danny, but the hybrid was quicker and he moved aside, grabbing his attackers shirt when he leaned over after missing the shove and gave a shove of his own, sending the henchmen stumbling into the door.

"You should watch your step." Danny replied swiftly, turning to look at Draco and the other henchmen.

Draco tilted his head up and closed his eyes, moving to walk past Danny without looking at him while Henchmen #2 helped Henchmen #1 up and they all exited the compartment. Danny laughed as Shade hissed at the door once they left, showing his dislike of them.

With them taken care of, he turned to the girl sitting in the room.

"Hey, you alright?" Danny asked, sitting beside her. She looked up from her lap a while ago, soon after he had started mouthing off to Draco and his cronies'.

"Yeah, just fine thanks." She said, sniffling a bit. "Draco just likes to push buttons is all, but he knows just where to push."

'If you don't mind me asking, why was he picking on you in the first place?" Danny asked, now confused as he looked at her.

She didn't look like the type of person that would get bullied, not at Casper High. She was very pretty, even with her eyes wet and nose red from crying a bit. Her grey eyes were so clear they looked silver, shining out against her luscious locks of blonde hair. She rolled her eyes and let out a small huff.

"He tried talking to me about pureblood wizards being superior to muggleborns and the like, because my family is known for it the same way his is. But I told him that I didn't actually agree with my families' beliefs and he went off, calling me a blood traitor." She explained to him.

Danny only nodded, pretending to understand the situation. Really he only knew minimal details, that muggles were what the wizarding world called ordinary people who couldn't use magic. He supposed, by the way this girl was talking, that muggleborns were people that could use magic but were born to parents who couldn't. And it seemed like full wizards were held in high esteem. What had she called them? Purebloods?

"If it makes you feel any better," He paused to gauge her reaction. She smiled and tilted her head up slightly, obviously interested so he continued. "I hate him already too, and I've only met him twice."

She managed a laugh, but Danny could tell she was still upset.

"Actually, that helps. That helps a lot." She told him, sticking out her hand. "Names Daphne Greengrass."

"Danny Fenton at your service, ma'am." Danny said formally, doing a mock-bow as he shook the girls hand. "Say," He started after, remembering something else. "You haven't seen or heard a toad recently, have you?"

"Er, sorry but no?" Daphne replied in confusion. "Why? Are you trying to find one?"

"Sort of, but it's not mine. My friend volunteered us both to help look for this kids lost pet toad. I don't know where it could be, though." Danny explained, muttering the last part to himself as he stood up.

"Could you use some more help?" Daphne offered politely.

Danny could tell she meant well, and probably would've helped look if he said yes, but he could tell she wasn't thrilled at the prospect. He understood, that had been him a few minutes ago after all, so he decided against accepting her help.

"No, actually, that's alright. My friends probably found it already anyway, they went looking down the other way." Danny said, moving towards the door. He smiled as he saw her sit back in relief. "I'll see you later, Daphne." He said with a wave. Shade meowed as he scurried past Danny's feet.

"Bye Danny!" Daphne's muffled goodbye came from the other side of the shut door.

Danny could only think about how badly he'd managed to mess up his first year already before even starting it. He had already gone against Snape's advice and 'messed with' Draco Malfoy about twice now and had Snape against him from the start.

" _We are now approaching Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to Hogwarts separately!"_

Danny looked around and sighed, realizing he wasn't going to make it back to his cart in time. The train slowed to a stop and Danny and Shade jumped off the nearest exit with everyone else. Danny stretched his limbs, smirking as Shade mimicked him.

"We're almost there, you ready for this?" Danny asked his cat. Shade meowed back. "Thought so." He replied, amused.

"Firs' years over here!" A large bearded man cried out, ringing a bell. He waited a moment, giving people time to crowd around before he continued on. "Hello there, Harry." He addressed a black-haired boy in the front row.

"Hey, Hagrid." The boy, named Harry, replied.

"All firs' years this way! Come on follow me! No more 'en four to a boat!" Hagrid called out.

The mass of children followed him towards the boats that were docked, with Danny and Shade lagging behind. He saw Hermione in the mass of people, paused at one boat that held the dark haired boy Hagrid had spoken to, Harry, the boy with the toad, Neville, and another red haired boy. She seemed to look around for a moment before stepping into the boat after Neville.

Danny smiled a bit. He would've liked to ride over with her but it would do her good to have friends outside of just him, he knew. Jazz was the same way.

He was better off playing the outcast than she was, anyway.

* * *

Danny had managed to survive the float over to Hogwarts despite being on the boat with three people he'd never met and had no intention of being friends with. He tried to find Daphne, but by the time he spotted her she was already on a boat floating away.

After they all arrived at the school, Hagrid handed the group over to a Minerva McGonagall, an elderly with a stern look on her face that she held expertly still as she looked pointedly at the class. She alone was enough to draw Danny's attention back to the tingling sensation he felt on his spine, it returning in spades just as it had when he was around Snape earlier.

Danny instinctively sized her up as they stood at the entrance to the castle, already knowing at least four ways of escape (it was made easier by being in the back, closest to the door). She was obviously a force to be reckoned with, he figured that from the years of experience she must've had alone, and the fact that it looked like she could vaporize any of the students with a strong enough glare.

McGonagall had then gone on to discuss the four different houses and their traits, which Hermione had discussed with him earlier that day, before going on to talk about the House Cup and its rules and points. Hermione had told him about that too, so that was about when he decided to start zoning out, choosing to instead scout his future classmates.

He could see Hermione the easiest, her position at the front of the group drawing his attention immediately. The boys from earlier, Harry and the redhead, were off to the side. Draco was sandwiched between his two slices of bread a ways behind Hermione and only a few people in front of him stood Daphne. Neville was in the center of them all, head pointed downwards.

The corner of his eye spotted another person, unfamiliar. He turned to see girl, probably his year, with blonde hair and electric blue eyes opening and closing her hand in a mocking fashion, her head rolling from shoulder to shoulder. He couldn't help but laugh, drawing her attention. She turned to him and smiled, making a show of rolling her eyes.

Their exchange was interrupted when Neville broke from the crowd, shouted "Trevor!" and bent down to scoop up… a toad? So _that's_ where the little escape artist went. McGonagall shot him a stern glare, so stern Danny thought it would've made Skulker slink down into a hole, and Neville expectedly shrank back into the crowd of future students, now cradling his toad. The other students seemed to chuckle at Neville's misfortune, all but Hermione and the boy named Harry, who had elbowed his redhead friend to stop as well.

McGonagall either didn't notice or didn't care, abandoning the rest of her speech in favor of walking them into a hall of some kind. He flashed his eyes again, once he made sure he was at the very back of the group, and looked around. There was a group of people standing on a stage of some kind, all of them giving off strong signatures of their own.

As he scanned the room for exits, he noticed the star-y backdrop on the ceiling, taking a second to admire it even if he knew it wasn't real. He heard Hermione's shrill voice through the crowd, telling them all it was bewitched to mimic the night sky since after all it was only about six in the afternoon.

McGonagall continued to lead the first years to the front of the room before she left them standing, still lined up as she stepped up onto the stage-like platform. Danny's eyes flashed again, trying to learn more about them all. He recognized McGonagall and Snape up there, but he quickly learned the names of Quirrell, Flitwick, Sprout and Dumbledore thanks to his enhanced hearing.

He watched as the elderly bearded man that had been addressed as Dumbledore stepped forward, eyes scanning the crowd until, surprisingly enough, his eyes settled on Danny. Danny, who felt the headmasters gaze, turned immediately to lock eyes with the man, ignoring the multi-colored mist that now poured out of his mouth.

He watched Dumbledore's expression go from shocked to confused before attempting a neutral expression while Quirrel moved forward, placing a beat up old wooden stool with a hat on top of it beside McGonagall, who stood in the center of the platform.

"This is," She started, gaining everyone's attention. "The sorting hat. Each of you first years shall be called up one-by-one to be sorted into one of the four houses."

Seemingly out of nowhere, the teachers and the upper-year students began to sing softly, but very loudly. Danny was confused, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask anyone what exactly the hell was going on so he remained quiet until after the singing stopped. That was when, just like McGonagall said, they were called up one at a time. Danny could've sworn he heard someone mention wrestling trolls loudly in the background as the first name was called.

"Abbot, Hannah." She said.

McGonagall went on to call a bunch of names of the people Danny couldn't care less about for a while, but his attention was once again grabbed when she called out a very familiar name. His own.

"Fenton, Daniel."

He sighed and trudged up to the stool the others had sat on, Shade right at his heels. He heard some mutterings and snickers about his cat following him but he didn't care. He just sat down with another sigh as the hat was lowered down on his head.

" _Please lower your mental barriers, Mr. Fenton. I assure you I mean no harm."_ He heard out loud.

Danny heard gasps around the room, which he supposed was to be expected. He doubted he, an inexperienced eleven year-old, should have been strong enough to keep something like the Sorting Hat out of his mind. He didn't really know how to lower his 'mental barriers' or whatever, but he stopped concentrating on keeping his brain locked behind a Ghost Portal-like door, which he had learned to do to avoid a repeat of Freakshow's staff.

Just as the doors slid open, revealing something similar to the swirling green mass of the Ghost Zone that was actually the inside of his mind, Danny heard the hat again, this time only in his head.

' _Ah, an interesting one indeed. I don't think I've even seen a muggleborn quite like you, before.'_ The hat paused. _'Come to think of it, I've never met a halfa either.'_

' _I wouldn't expect you to, there's only three of us.'_ Danny thought back angrily. _'You'd better not tell anyone about this.'_

' _Relax; your secrets are safe with me, Mr. Fenton. Or should I say, Phantom?'_ The hat laughed. _'Now then, lets look at which house best suits you._

 _You're definitely bold and brave enough for Gryffindor. It's no small feat to fight off a world full of enemies' everyday with little to no help. And brawling the God of the Dead alone would secure your spot with the lions. But there's much more that makes you a lion. You're chivalrous, always thinking of others before yourself. Whether it's pulling out chairs and opening doors or shielding innocent civilians with your body, both reflect your self-sacrificing attitude. Then there's your courage. You stand up for what you believe in, no matter whom you're standing up against. Be it teachers, bullies, enemies, friends, family, crushes, strangers, Snape and even evil 'fruit loops', as you put it, it's all the same to you. You don't back down. Gryffindor could do you well._

 _Even the most pure of Hufflepuffs would be amazed by your strong sense of loyalty, dedication, tolerance and kindness. You were dedicated enough to continue protecting your home, despite being scored by so many for it. You were patient with those who didn't see things your way or sought wrong and so often turned them around. Ms. Grey, Princess Dorathea and Danielle are but a few examples. Not minding working hard is only another point to the 'Puff house, you stretched yourself as thin as you could to complete all of your responsibilities to the best of your ability. I shan't even need to mention your kind and accepting nature. Yes, Hufflepuff could welcome you without a second thought._

 _Wise, witty and creative. The traits of a Ravenclaw if I ever saw one. You were wise enough to bring friends and enemies together in multiple situations against a common threat, to navigate an entire realm of possibilities and options alone and to learn as much as you could as quick as you could not only to protect your friends and town, but also to survive. Intelligent enough to outplay so many enemies you lacked the ability to simply confront, not that that stopped you at all and your strong sense of individuality is matched only by, as you say, two others. Ravenclaw could be a great fit._

 _And finally, we have Slytherin. You're cunning, for sure; cunning enough to fight multiple enemies at once on more than one occasion and triumph. Of course, you're self-preservation skills are unmatched; you did whatever you needed to do to survive, be it lying, disobeying rules or manipulating people, you've done it. But it all was necessary, wasn't it, for the sake of your half-life, yes? Next you have determination and willpower. Your determination is quite remarkable, letting you persevere when the situation is as bad as it gets, and your willpower is astounding! Withstanding blow after blow, hit after hit, still floating back up and into the battle with willpower alone. Very Slytherin._

 _You, Mr. Phantom, could thrive in all four houses. I could see you as a brave lion, a loyal badger, a wise raven or a cunning snake. You should have your own house, Mr. Phantom.'_ The hat laughed again. _'You could be your own house ghost.'_

' _What's a house ghost?'_ Danny thought back to the hat.

' _Each house has a ghost that corresponds to it, with many other ghosts aimlessly wandering the castle grounds. Gryffindor has Sir Nicholas, Hufflepuff has the Friar, Ravenclaw has The Grey Lady and Slytherin has The Bloody Baron. Now then, you've got more than enough traits to be accepted into all the houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin would all be lucky to have you._

 _Only… yes, you're loyalty, while neigh unbreakable, is given only to a select few once you feel they've earned it. And you're a believer that the ends justify the means, not afraid to play dirty when the need arises. And you're as sharp as they come, but your drive to actually learn for the sake of learning is geared very specifically. You're also not very original, are you, Danny Paranormal Being?'_ The hat rebutted itself.

' _That leaves two, but all of your bravery and courage comes from one thing, your determination to keep your loved ones safe. That's why I believe you'll thrive here like no other. Yes. Better be, SLYTHERIN.'_ The hat continued on, yelling the house name out loudly.

The members of the Great Hall clapped as Danny made his way over to the Slytherin table with Shade still trailing at his ankles. He noticed one of Draco's henchmen, Crabbe, already there sneering at him so he just continued on past him to sit beside the ghost at the back end of the table. Danny figured that this was the Bloody Baron since he was at the Slytherin table.

"So the rumors are true after all; the Phantom has renounced his claim on Amity Park." Bloody Baron said, teasing Danny good-naturedly. Danny could only nod, figuring his departure would be news in the Ghost Zone by now, although he looked a tad confused at how the ghosts here knew of him.

"We all know who you are, kid. All us ghost, anyway. It'd be hard not to, what with you being legendary across the realm of the dead and all. Even if we're a little disconnected over here, word still reaches us when something like a fourteen year old half-ghost taking down Pariah Dark in single combat happens." Bloody Baron answered the confused look on Danny's face.

He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised; his secret identity was only a secret to humans. Practically all the ghosts knew he was a half-ghost and most even knew not only what his human form looked like, but his name too. They just all tended to respect his wishes and call him by his chosen name, Phantom, unless they were insulting him with stuff along the lines of 'dipstick' and 'whelp'.

He wanted to reply, but McGonagall called out another familiar name.

"Granger, Hermione."

Danny smiled as he watched Hermione eagerly skip up to the stool and practically shoved the hat on her head. Not twelve seconds later the hat gave a call of 'GRYFFINDOR' and Hermione pranced away to the lion's table on the opposite side of the hall. Danny turned back to the Bloody Baron, but McGonagall called another name.

"Greengrass, Daphne."

He watched happily as Daphne shuffled up to the stool and was amused when her sorting was just as short as Hermione's. The hat was barely on Daphne's head for ten seconds when it cried out 'SLYTHERIN' to the rest of the hall and the blonde waltzed over to his table to sit across from him and the Bloody Baron, who she looked a tad weary of.

"So, the hat. Do the conversations slow down in the hat or something? Everyone seems to be getting placed pretty quickly, but mine felt like it took forever." Danny asked his house ghost, who chuckled.

"Pha-, Kid, the conversations are the same in and out of the hat. Hate to break it to you, but you were up there for a pretty long time. One of the longest durations I've ever seen someone spend with the Sorting Hat, if not the longest." The scarred ghost replied, amused.

"Yeah, I was starting to think you broke the hat or something." Daphne chimed in jokingly. Danny rolled his eyes.

The list went on, kids being sorted into one house or another. Malfoy's second henchmen, Goyle, was sorted into Slytherin as well followed by Neville, the kid with the toad, into Gryffindor and then Draco himself being put into Slytherin. They were the only names and faces Danny recognized be called up until,

"Potter, Harry." Was shouted and the entire hall broke into whispers.

Danny had heard a little about the boy; knowing his name and title as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' but nothing more except that he supposedly defeated the Dark Lord of the Wizarding World as an infant, bearing a lighting-bolt scar as a reminder. Not a lot of information, really. Eventually, the hat had once again shouted 'GRYFFINDOR' and the ghost over there, Sir Nicholas, and the kids starting cheering the loudest.

"He may have gotten Potter, but I got Phantom. Not even The-Boy-Who-Lived can one-up The-Boy-Who-Died. He can rub it in all he wants, but he knows I've got the better hand now." The Bloody Baron said to himself.

"Phantom? Who's Phantom?" Daphne asked carefully. Danny knew she was still wary of him.

Danny merely shrugged, petting Shade as he stood calmly on the table.

"You mean you don't know? Phantom-" Bloody Baron started, but Danny elbowed him in the side underneath the table.

The Slytherin house ghost winced in pain. He had forgotten Phantom could touch them even in his human form as none of the humans here could touch them. He glanced over at said teen, coughing awkwardly when he saw Phantom's eyes glowing a slight green as they glanced over at him.

He had assumed that Phantom wouldn't have a problem with exposing his secret now, away from all the things he considered dangerous. There was no reason to hide here, really, but he would respect the Phantom's wishes to keep his half-life in the dark from the others. Who was he to cross Pariah's Bane, anyway?

Danny let out a quiet sigh as his eyes faded back to blue. He didn't mean to get angry, especially over something like that, but he wasn't even sure if he wanted his secret exposed at all, let alone so soon. Maybe eventually, to the right people at an appropriate time, but not here, not now. And he wasn't sure yet whether Daphne would be one of those people.

So far he was thinking Hermione, for sure and possibly Daphne. Neville if they ever spoke again could be a possibility. Hermione was definitely first in line; she was his first friend here and so far his closest friend too. And she was smart enough to keep it a secret on her own, anyway. Daphne was a nice girl, he knew that much just from her not liking Malfoy and his henchmen, but she was obviously spooked by ghosts. Neville seemed like an okay kid, definitely trustworthy and loyal if searching for a toad for an hour and a half was any indication, but he hadn't talked to him enough yet.

"Oookey." Daphne drawled out, pretending nothing had just transpired. Danny might have said something to her, but he noticed a familiar face stand up as McGonagall called out an unfamiliar name.

"Vane, Emma." McGonagall called out.

Danny watched in curiosity as the girl from earlier with the electric blue eyes and wavy blonde hair made her way to the stool. The girl he had been giggling with while McGonagall was giving her introductory speech. So, her name was Emma, huh?

Emma walked over to the stool with a slight roll of her eyes, placing the hat on her head lightly. There was a break in there, long enough to make Danny curious but also nowhere near as long as he was up there. Finally, when the hat gave out a mighty cry of 'SLYTHEIRN' once again, Danny found himself pleased.

Emma seemed so too as she walked up to the table, bypassing Draco and his squad to sit beside Daphne and across from Danny, smirking over at him.

"So, Danny, huh?" She asked. "You kinda struck me as a James back there."

Danny tried not to show that his chest tightened, that he felt like he couldn't breath. Luckily, he didn't need to. Not really, anyway, anywhere near as much as normal humans did even in his human form. It was always little things like that that made him wonder if he was more ghost than human…

"Me? What about you? You look a lot more like an Alice or something than Emma." Danny shot back. No way he was going to give her the satisfaction and tell her his middle name was actually James.

Emma smirked back while McGonagall called another name.

"Weasley, Ronald!" She cried, and Danny watched as the redheaded boy he'd seen next to the famous Harry Potter all day walked up the stool.

It seemed that he hadn't even finished sitting down yet before the hat placed him in 'GRYFFINDOR' as well and Ronald strode over to the table with Harry.

"Um, excuse me? Mr. Bloody Baron, sir?" Daphne asked, unsure.

Danny almost felt bad for the girl, being scared shitless like that by the spirit. Then again, she kind of had it coming, treating him as a malevolent ghost than a benevolent spirit. Maybe it was just him and being used to seeing things every day that would scare any normal, sane person out of their wits, but he didn't find Bloody Baron all that frightening.

The Bloody Baron turned his attention away from McGonagall and to one of the two blonde girls that now sat across from he and Danny, showing he was listening. It was kinder than it would've been had Phantom himself not been sitting beside him and shown himself to be friendly with the girl. Even he wouldn't be too rude to Phantom's friends; they'd all heard the stories.

"You never told me who Phantom was." Daphne told him, crossing her arms expectantly. It appeared she had grown some confidence in herself talking to the ghost.

The Bloody Baron was at a loss of words for the first time in as long as he could remember. He outright wouldn't tell her, or anyone for that matter, the truth without Phantom's blessing. Most ghosts respected or admired him to a degree, even those that he fought regularly held respect for the halfa. Even the ones that didn't acknowledged his skill and prowess in combat, almost every ghost knew someone or another who had been personally shoved back into the Ghost Zone by Phantom.

So, the only thing he could do was tread carefully.

"Phantom, as in Danny Phantom." Bloody Baron started. "He's another ghosts, but far more powerful than any of us. You see yearling, muggle ghosts and wizarding ghosts are completely different in the afterlife. There, it is muggles that have the upper hand; they are tangible and have a wide array of special powers inaccessible to us wizarding ghosts. Danny Phantom is a bit of a legendary name among the muggles and to ghosts everywhere, having taken down opponents most others would not even dare to face. And he is coming to Hogwarts." He told her, voice full of praise.

Unfortunately for the ghosts, Dumbledore heard too since the names had finished being called. Dumbledore himself stood up, rather quickly for an elderly man, and bellowed to all the other ghosts.

"Sir Nicholas! Baron! Grey! Friar! Up here, at once!" Dumbledore beckoned, his voice full of power.

Once up there, the ghosts along with the Headmaster and teachers disappeared, appearing to be sucked into the same small point. Danny could only hope the other ghosts didn't dime him out right away. He turned back from looking at the stage to Daphne and Emma, only to find the latter being dragged by the wrist down to the other end of the table to talk to the girls Danny had seen her ride over on the boat with.

So, left with no other options, Danny stood up and made his way over to the Gryffindor table with Shade quickly following. He had heard of the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry and how it had gotten a little too intense at times, but he was sure that other than a few dirty looks and lame threats nobody would go to extreme measures to remove him.

Sure enough, all he did was ignore the glares from the upperclassmen as he sat across from both Hermione and Neville and next to Harry, who had Ronald on his, other side. He smiled softly at Hermione and Neville and Neville nodded back while Hermione beamed at him.

"Danny! Can you believe it? I got Gryffindor, just like I wanted! Shame we weren't housed together, though, that would've been the best!" She greeted him happily. Shade hopped right up onto the table and crossed it, laying down right in front of the witch-in-training who happily scratched him.

"Yeah, that's great. I've known you for a few hours and even I could tell how badly you wanted it." Danny commented. "It's a little depressing, though, knowing that two of the four people I've met and not hated are in my rivaling house."

He was counting Emma, although he wasn't sure if that was fair. He hadn't really met her before they were sorted, but they had giggled a lot together. Hermione was the only person he had really connected with, other than Daphne, but Neville was alright and the only other people he'd gotten associated with before the sorting ceremony were Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, who he already actively disliked.

"Bloody hell! You're a Slytherin! What're you doing here? Trying to stir up trouble, I bet!" Ronald accused from the other side of Harry who was utterly confused. Danny didn't seem like the other Slytherin members so far, namely Malfoy.

"I came over to talk to my friend, thanks." Danny said indignantly, gesturing out at Hermione. "Man, I hardly even know your name and you're already yelling at me." He mumbled to himself after.

"Danny, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Guys, this is Danny Fenton." Hermione introduced them; oblivious to the tension Ron was throwing at Danny.

Yep, Danny knew, totally like Jazz. It seemed both girls were oblivious to social queues despite being very book-smart. Harry merely shook the other preteens hand and waited for the inevitable 'wow its Harry Potter', either in an excited or sarcastic format. But it never came.

"Jeez, dude, you looked like I was about to punch you or something." Danny commented on Harry's weird look.

"Sorry, just that I was expecting you to make a fuss. Glad you didn't, though." Harry replied, adding the last part as a quick afterthought. Danny shrugged.

"I guess you could say I know how you feel. I wouldn't like getting all that attention if I was famous either, so I wouldn't be a hypocrite and make a big deal out of someone else." Danny told him honestly. Well, as honestly as he could.

Harry liked him a bit better after that, even if Ron was still angry.

"Why're you being so friendly with a Slytherin? I thought you didn't like 'em!" Ron shouted at Harry.

Harry glared a bit at the boy, hoping he didn't ruin his chances to make friends with the one person who treated him as an equal rather than a celebrity.

"I never said that, " Harry insisted. "I said I didn't like Malfoy," He tried to amend, glancing over at Danny.

"Draco's just a pompous idiot whose head's so big it has its own gravitational pull." Danny teased the blond boy. Hermione nearly cackled while Harry and Neville chuckled and Ron was trying not to laugh since he didn't like the hybrid yet.

"How can you be a Slytherin, mate? You're nothing like Malfoy and his bloody backup." Harry asked him. Danny shrugged.

"I like to think I was put there because I'm clever and resourceful rather than pure evil or anything." He guessed out loud. The others, mainly Hermione, murmured in agreement.

He knew why he was there, really. But he couldn't tell them that he was cunning enough to actively hunt and fight ghosts, determined enough to best Pariah Dark on the brink of death, had enough willpower to hang onto his life while in the middle of being electrocuted to death in the Ghost Portal or ambitious enough to protect an entire town from a whole different dimension of threats.

As his mentor would say, all in due time.

* * *

 **And, cut, print, send!**

 **Another chapter down, folks! Thanks for all the encouragement and support, guys it means a lot especially since I wasn't sure if you'd want me to even try and rewrite the story.**

 **Speaking of rewrite, what do you guys think of some of the changes? Like meeting Draco before hand and the addition of a Miss Emma Vane? I thought Danny could use another friend in his own house especially for the times he isn't sharing a class with Hermione, his only other real friend so far besides Daphne.**

 **Be sure to read and review, guys, and hopefully I'll be back soon with Chapter Four: Friends, Fights and Phantoms.**


	4. Friends, Fights and Phantom's

The Magical Phantom

Chapter Four: Friends, Fights and Phantom's

* * *

"Now, Sir Nicholas, could you please explain to me why in the bloody hell you've decided to bring some muggle ghost nobody's ever heard of and is a potential threat to my school, _to my school?_ " Dumbledore questioned as patiently as he could.

Sir Nicholas and the other ghosts winced back a bit, but they exchanged looks before the aforementioned ghost replied.

"With all due respect, Headmaster Dumbledore, I don't appreciate our guest being referred to as 'some muggle ghost'. His name is Phantom and he deserves respect just as much as you or I or anyone, for that matter and maybe even more so." Sir Nicholas said pointedly. "Phantom has braved things no mortal man, most ghosts and many magic folk wouldn't. He's bested the forces of nature, looked death in the eyes and glared right back, gone one-on-one with enemies that rival and outclass You-Know-Who in terms of power and toppled beings that are looked at as gods." The Gryffindor house ghost explained.

"And, while he may be powerful, I can assure you he is no threat to Hogwarts." Bloody Baron added. The other ghosts nodded.

"How can you possibly tell us that this muggle ghost- excuse me, _Phantom-_ has done all of these things and is not a threat?" Snape asked rhetorically, stressing Phantom's name. This time it was Lady Grey who answered.

"Phantom is very benevolent. He only does what he does to protect what he cares about, his family and friends. All instances of the things he's done can be attributed to self-preservation or for the benefit of others." Lady Grey said profoundly.

"Yes, Phantom is even more friendly and forgiving than I, and I am the reason Peeves is still around." Friar added. "He is the sole reason a lot of ghosts feel safe anymore."

"That too, he's helped out a lot of ghosts and muggles alike. I'm sure he'd help wizards." Bloody Baron continued, trying to assure Dumbledore.

There was a beat of silence and the ghosts glanced at each other once more while under Dumbledore's scrutinizing gaze.

"Fine. This 'Phantom' has my blessing to enter Hogwarts, but I'd like to have a word with him. Could any of you make this happen?" Dumbledore gave his condition. It was Sir Nicholas and Bloody Baron who nodded first. "Good, then you four are responsible for this Phantom character during his stay."

"Of course." Bloody Baron said, nodding.

"Consider it done, Headmaster Dumbledore." Sir Nicholas agreed, also nodding.

* * *

"Well, well, well! Looky what we have down here!" Peeves exclaimed joyously. "A Great Hall full of kids and no teachers in sight." He continued, floating by the Gryffindor table.

The poltergeist continued by pulling out fireworks and torches from nowhere, only to be stopped by a voice he never thought he'd hear in person.

"You might not want to do that."

Peeves turned to see the mess of raven-black hair and blue eyes that had become oh so familiar to anyone who had been to the Spirit World, or 'Ghost Zone' as it was called now. Even now in their concealed form, he could picture the mop of black hair being bleached to snow white and the radioactive green peek out from behind blue irises. He was looking directly at the unmistakable form of the legendary Danny Phantom. The pranking ghost squealed in both fear and excitement.

"You! You're here! I thought they were only rumors that you had left Amity Park! Who would've thought that the legendary Pariah's Bane would come to visit our little old school?" Peeves shouted in shock. The shock soon turned into Danny's own first language; sarcasm.

"Cut it out." Danny said through gritted teeth, hoping the kids around him didn't hear the taunting ghost. They were all pretty preoccupied talking to each other, but one could never be too careful.

"Aww, is the big bad halfa afraid of little ol' me?" Peeves asked, reveling in Phantom's position to do nothing.

"I said cut it out." Danny repeated lower, flashing his eyes green. Peeves did instinctively flinch under the infamous 'scary eyes' but continued taunting.

"Never thought you'd scare so easily, Pha-" Peeves started, cutting himself off with a shiver as Phantom's eyes flashed brighter.

"It's you who should be afraid." Danny said simply.

The message was vague to those around him, who had noticed the presence of the poltergeist about halfway into their little exchange, but to Peeves it was clear. So he did what any reasonable low-powered ghost would've done and floated the hell out of there. After which Danny turned to see the amazed looks of Hermione and the other Gryffindor's.

"How in Dumbledore's name did you do that? Nobody but Bloody Baron and Dumbledore himself can control Peeves like that!" Another redhead Gryffindor said, amazed.

"And sometimes not even them." Another redhead, who looked like first ones doppelganger, added. Ron sighed.

"Danny, these are my brothers Fred and George." He introduced a tad annoyed, pointing right to left.

"Hey! I'm Fred!" The one on the left cried indignantly. Ron rolled his eyes.

"My bad." He replied, not sounding sorry in the least. Danny only shrugged.

"Maybe he's just having an off day?" Danny offered, although it was more like a question. Hermione gave him a look.

"Off day? The guy looked, excuse the pun, deathly afraid of you!" She pointed out. He flinched. "Then, he called you something else entirely. He addressed you, didn't he? But he didn't ever say your name."

Danny almost winced again. She was way to observant for him to hide his secret forever at this rate, although Peeves certainly didn't help.

"I just thought it was an accident." Harry supplied from beside him. Danny nodded and Hermione made a face.

"Possible, but he did start to call you something else too, didn't he? Do you know?" Hermione asked, turning to him.

Danny only shrugged, not intending on answering and he was luckily saved from doing so when Dumbledore, the teachers and the ghosts all appeared back where they had been before. Each of the ghosts, Danny could tell, looked a little more rigid than before they disappeared. He'd ask later, he decided, when Dumbledore spoke up.

"Our house ghosts have just informed me," Dumbledore started, emphasizing the 'just', "That another ghost will be coming to Hogwarts soon, one that goes by the name of 'Phantom'. I've been assured he'll be no bother to anyone but I advise you to be cautious and alert." He paused. "Now that that's been announced-" Danny stopped paying attention after that, getting lost in his thoughts.

He was too busy trying not to glare at Dumbledore openly as to not get anyone's attention, especially not Dumbledore's. The last time he had Dumbledore's attention focused on him it felt like someone was poking at his mind. He could understand that, as headmaster, he wished no danger came to his school. He used to feel that way himself when it came to his friends or the town. But even after the ghosts had, seemingly, assured him that Phantom was no threat, what does the old fart do? Announce to everyone to be cautious and alert.

 _Cautious and alert._

Not only was he advising the student body to be wary of him, he was doing it rather _badly._ Imagine if you went to a zoo but right before you went, a tiger escaped but the guy giving you tickets only told you to be careful and not die as you enter. These guys were freaking wizards and they were not only standoffish to ghosts, but seemingly regular humans too if the rather popular distaste for 'muggleborns' was anything to go by. So far all Danny had learned that wizards were really big hypocrites.

But, nonetheless Danny bit his tongue for now and looked down, noticing everyone around him had food but him. He supposed it was to do with the fact that he wasn't supposed to be sitting at the table, really, and that his meal was back at the Slytherin table. He was about to go, but he noticed that Hermione was being rather rudely excluded from the current conversation, Harry and Ron having turned in their seats to face each other.

Glancing back at his table he noticed Daphne and Emma had returned and sure enough, his plate was situated in the empty space by Emma's side. He shrugged and looked around, Neville was quietly eating contently while Harry and Ron talked with each other and Ron's brothers and Hermione ate also quietly, but rather sullenly as she took a moment to pet Shade's head as the cat jumped off the table and onto the seat beside her.

Well, it looked like he was staying, he though, scooting over more to sit directly across from Hermione again, getting her attention.

"Did you happen to catch the name of that spell?" He asked her jokingly, gesturing to the empty space in front of him. She looked up at him and began to laugh and Danny found it hard to suppress a smile of his own.

* * *

It was only the day after the sorting ceremony and Malfoy's henchmen shoving them out of bed rudely awakened Danny and Shade. The only thing that saved the three boys from being flung out the window was Danny's extraordinary level of self-control. Shade made sure to scratch their ankles, though.

Danny shook his head and briefly glared at where the three boys disappeared, trying to ignore the other Slytherin members in the common room; he was still standoffish towards most of them. But, after what happened yesterday, why wouldn't he be?

 _FLASHBACK TIME_

 _Danny only left the Gryffindor table when Dumbledore announced that their Head of House would take everyone back to their common rooms. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that his was none other than his previous guide, Severus Snape. He grinned as he walked up to the robed man._

" _What was that about 'Ten points from whatever house you end up in, Fenton'?" Danny had asked happily, balancing on his heels to reflect his innocence. Snape glared and sighed in one fluid motion._

" _Make it five." He muttered to the preteen boy before he turned and led the group of Slytherins to a large old rock wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts._

" _This years password is Mongoose." Snape told them all and to the amazement of the first years a doorway appeared in the wall, leading to a place lit up with eerie green lights._

 _Most of the first years were quickly creeped out by the ominous feel. It seemed only that Draco, Emma Vane and Danny himself were the only ones not fazed at all. Danny didn't know what Emma or Draco's excuses were for being okay with the place, but for him a place with flimsy green lighting was more of a welcome home sign than an actual welcoming after spending just a simple week in the Ghost Zone, not even counting all his other trips there._

" _How aren't you two even at least a little off-put?" Daphne asked her two friends. She quickly edged herself closer to Danny, who stood between the two girls, clearly not yet comfortable in their common room yet._

" _I've seen worse." Emma replied easily. "Like the inside of my sisters room. The horrors of a six year olds room far outweigh anything I've seen her so far."_

 _Danny chuckled while Daphne rolled her eyes, obviously unsatisfied with her answer. Danny, however, only shrugged. He couldn't tell her that his mentors' lair was even creepier the first time he saw it. He doubted she would believe him anyway if he told her the place he'd come to almost call a home was an eerie looking clock tower that put this little round hole to shame. And after seeing Skulker's island, it made the Slytherin Dungeon look like a gingerbread house._

 _All the things that were on the walls already and anything his fellow classmates could put up later almost certainly couldn't compare to actual skulls and pelts complete with an empty plaque with his name on it._

After that, though, everybody's attention was drawn back to Snape, who had started talking.

" _I regret to inform you that, thanks to a certain somebody- Fenton- we're going to start this year off at a five-point disadvantage." Everyone glared over at Danny. "But, in the long run that will only make things sweeter when we win the House Cup at the end of the school year." Snape announced happily. After that, all he did was address which direction the boys and girls section were in and promptly dismissed the students._

 _Some of the kids were happy, seeing Snape now as an understanding figure that had told them about why they were at a disadvantage. Danny, however, scowled at the back of Snape's retreating form. He knew very well why the professor did what he did, and it was certainly not an act of politeness. It was supposed to be an act of 'hey, that Fenton kid almost screwed you all over big-time, so you need to cover his mistake'. Danny knew that angle all to well, the one where someone only told part of the truth. It made the overall story look better. Vlad used to play that all the time, especially against him._

 _But Snape had most likely played it as a double-edged sword, counting on nobody seeing through his half-truth except for Danny himself. It was likely a way for Snape to set the tone with Danny and get the halfas respect as a teacher and Head of House. He probably wasn't aware that he already had it, so Danny would certainly enjoy playing Snape's game for a while before he told him that._

 _So, Danny ignored most of the glares from his housemates and waved goodnight to Daphne and Emma as they parted ways, each going to their own dormitory. He needed a good nights rest right about now. Today had been one hell of a long day even for him._

 _FLASHBACK TIME OVER_

It was right about then that Danny knew he wouldn't have many friends in his fellow first-year Slytherins. Daphne and Emma both still talked to him, though. He found solace in the fact that he could at least talk to a few people in his own house rather than just Hermione in the Gryffindor house where he received dirty looks for sitting with her.

He might've taken that rude wake-up a little better if he'd gotten more sleep. He'd shown Shade his other form before taking a quick fly around the grounds of Hogwarts. Admittedly, not his best idea since he knew he had class in the morning but he really couldn't help himself.

He'd checked out the other common rooms in case he would ever need to get into them, tried to memorize the layout of the castle so he didn't get lose on his way to class, checked out the Astronomy Tower and even practiced a little with his powers. Can't get rusty, he reminded himself, ghosts were unpredictable and whether they were wizards or not, he didn't know how magic faired against ghosts. It was probably almost four a.m. when he realized how late it had gotten and went to bed, so being shoved awake at seven wasn't really the best possible way to start the day.

Danny sighed, already tired of today, and explained to Shade that he had to wait in the dorm while he attended class. The feline pretended not to like it, making a show of hissing a bit, before he eagerly flopped back down onto Danny's bed and curled into a ball. Danny nodded acceptingly, realizing there were no actual objections coming from the cat. _He_ got to sleep in.

Oh well, Danny though, at least he attempted to make him feel better.

So after that Danny, in his Hogwarts robes and all, made his way to Professor McGonagall's class on Transfiguration. Luckily he had showed himself how to get here last night as Phantom, so he arrived with no trouble. Once there, he saw that he shared the class with Gryffindor's. Daphne and Emma had paired up at the desk in the back of the room, waving him over.

"You want to squeeze in here with us?" Daphne offered, scooting closer to Emma and opening a tiny space at the end of the table. Emma rolled her eyes.

"He's thin, Daph, not six. These tables weren't built for three." Emma told her, although she made no move to push the other blonde away. Danny chuckled.

"Thanks but it looks a little cramped over here. I'll catch up with you guys after, okay?" Danny offered instead. They both nodded and he turned away, looking out at the rest of the room.

It was then that he noticed there was an empty seat by Hermione on the Gryffindor's side and another totally empty desk in front of her. He shrugged, opting for the first one and sat down next to the bushy haired girl.

"Did you sleep alright?" Hermione asked him, likely taking in his somewhat tired and disheveled appearance. He shrugged.

"Alright. Might've been better if someone," Danny glared over at Draco and his loyal shadows. "Hadn't woken me up twenty minutes before I actually had to get up." He said bitterly.

"Some people just get all their kicks from pushing others around. Don't let 'em get to you." Hermione said, shaking her head in disapproval at Draco's actions as if trying to hide the small, angry tone in her voice.

Well, Danny had already known that much. The A-List back at Casper High were the same way and even some of the ghosts he's faced off against built their own ego by bringing others down. He was about to reply to her when they boys he met yesterday, Harry and Ron, came shuffling through the class. Danny smirked as Hermione shook her head in annoyance at the two boys.

"Ay, we made it." Ron huffed out. "Could you imagine McGonagall's face if we were late?" He whispered to Harry, who didn't have a chance to reply before the cat, that Danny had hardly noticed, on the desk jumped down and morphed into Professor McGonagall.

"That does justice." Danny muttered out. The kids behind him laughed while Hermione shook her head lightly, likely in amusement while Harry and Ron sat at the desk in front of Danny and Hermione.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic that you will learn at Hogwarts." McGonagall started. "Anyone fooling around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

'She'd like Walker.' Danny thought to himself as they began to take notes. After a grueling note-taking session McGonagall had given them all a match and instructed them to turn it into a needle.

By the end of the class, however, there were only two students who managed to change the match at all. One was Hermione, who had a perfect needle sitting on her desk in place of a match and earned words of praise from McGonagall. The other was Danny, who had a pile of ashes where his match was and muttered an apology to McGonagall. After muttering 'whoops', of course.

McGonagall didn't even have it in her to pretend to glare and chuckled lightly at his small misfortune.

* * *

By the time Friday rolled around, Danny had learned quite a bit. Not so much about magic, but more so about the classes, teachers and students themselves.

Professor Sprout was okay, and Danny found her really nice, but he wasn't too crazy for the class she taught. Herbology was pretty boring, he wasn't really too interested in plants, but studying the sky once a week with her made up for most of it. He tried his best not to sleep the whole time during her classes otherwise, he really did, but he really just couldn't find it in him not to nap. Sam would've liked it though.

Professor Binns, the History of Magic professor, was apparently a ghost. He too knew exactly whom Danny was and was showing him obvious special treatment, not admonishing him for sleeping in class and perfect scores on his homework assignments. Normally, Danny would be completely and totally against this, but Binns was so completely and utterly boring, he didn't mention it. He just tried not to take advantage too badly.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, seemed normal enough. The only thing notable enough to stick out to Danny was when Hermione had told him the teacher had a fan-gasm (not her exact words of course, but he read between the lines) when he discovered he'd get to teach the famous Harry Potter. Other than that, though, he seemed nice enough and Danny never minded attending Charms, where he was sandwiched between Daphne and Emma once more.

Professor McGonagall was as stern as ever, but Danny understood why since Transfiguration was no subject to screw around in. Hell, he'd found out the only incorrect way to burn a match after just one class.

Although McGonagall was great, Snape was definitely Danny's favorite professor. Not because he was his Head of House or favored the Slytherins, but because someone _finally_ appreciated his dry wit and sarcastic nature and, instead of reprimanding him, threw it back at him. He loved Potions already after just one class earlier that week.

But, double Potions with the Gryffindors sounded like a bad idea from the start. Danny kept overhearing Harry's theories that Snape had it out for him thanks to his enhanced hearing. Hermione, on the other hand, voiced her opinion that Snape couldn't be biased simply because he was a teacher, but neither Harry nor Ron wanted to hear it from her.

"You know what I'd do," Danny told Hermione as they walked down into the dungeon for class a ways behind Harry and Ron. "If I thought someone didn't like me for no reason, I'd go ahead and give them a reason."

Hermione only rolled her eyes, shivering slightly as they approached their classroom. She noticed Harry and Ron do the same thing, but Danny seemed unaffected even though she just _knew_ he was only wearing his t-shirt and jeans under his robes.

"How aren't you cold?" Hermione asked curiously, shivering once more. Danny only shrugged.

"What can I say, I like the cold." Danny replied. It was at least half-true, he knew, but he couldn't tell her the other half that he didn't really feel cold too easily anymore.

Once there, Hermione eagerly found a seat in the front of the class and waited patiently for class to start while she waved Danny over. Danny shrugged again, walking past Harry and Ron's table to sit next to Hermione, whose table was conveniently located next to Daphne and Emma's table.

He knew Snape would make a fuss about them sitting together, but it beat sitting with Draco or any other Slytherin and he doubted even Snape would let them work in groups of three, so he couldn't work with both Daphne and Emma.

Straight away, Snape made a face at Danny and Hermione in the front of the room just like Danny had imagined. He didn't say anything else, though, until he started calling role. He did, however, pause not too far in.

"Daniel Fenton." He said exasperatedly, dreading the answer. Danny smiled widely and waved at Snape as innocently as possible. Snape just glared in return and opted to continue on with calling role, pretending as if nothing had happened, much to Danny's amusement.

"Ah, yes." Snape drawled out suddenly. "Harry Potter. Our new _celebrity."_

The Slytherins snickered at Harry, minus Danny who merely rolled his eyes. It wasn't long after that that Snape began a monologue about the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," Snape started. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you to really understand the beauty of the softly shimmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads that I usually teach." He lectured.

Silence filled the room after Snape's small speech ended and Danny glanced around the room, seeing everyone's attention firmly on the professor. When Danny saw Snape's small smirk, he understood that was the point of the speech, to draw them in. Danny smirked. This was certainly his favorite class. Not counting Astronomy class, of course.

"Potter!" Snape called suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Danny could tell simply by the look on Harry's face that he had no idea what Snape was even asking. But then again, neither did he. He just knew it wasn't exactly fair to throw Harry into the spotlight and under the bus like that. It was obvious he didn't really care about the answer, since he ignored Hermione's raised hand.

"I don't know, sir." Harry said. Snape 'tsked'.

"Fame clearly isn't everything." He replied. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" He asked.

Again, Harry replied with 'I don't know, sir' and Hermione's hand went up. Snape glared harder.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape said condescendingly.

That was enough for Danny to groan out loud. He and Harry weren't friends by any means yet, given his and Ron's consistently bad attitudes towards Hermione, but he wasn't willing to let Snape have his giggles at the expense of an eleven year olds confidence.

"Oh come on, you weren't really expecting any of us to have memorized the whole book by the end of the first week, right?" Danny said, trying to get the attention off Harry. A few more kids snickered as Snape rounded on Danny.

"I don't suppose either of you, Fenton, Potter, can tell me the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" He questioned, trying his best to glare at both black-haired boys at the same time. Harry remained quiet and Danny just shrugged.

After, Snape practically spat the answers at them, demanding they write it down and took a point from Gryffindor for Harry's ignorance and gave a warning to Danny about interrupting the professor. Then, he went on to give them an assignment to make a potion that cured boils and paired them with their table partner.

Danny and Hermione began to work, trying to ignore Snape walking around the room the whole time and criticizing everyone except for Draco Malfoy. Oddly enough, Snape had no criticisms of Danny and Hermione's potion, presumably because Hermione wouldn't let anything be wrong with it, and attempted to correct his posture instead _("Sit up straight, Fenton, or I'll stick a board down your shirt.")_.

Just as Snape was in the middle of praising Draco once more, acid green smoke and a hissing noise filled the dungeon. Everyone turned to see Neville and Seamus' potion seeping onto the floor. The whole class jumped up onto their stools when the potion started to melt holes in the ground and a few people's shoes. Many of the Slytherins sneered over at Neville as his potion backfired on him while Snape yelled.

"Idiot boy!" He cried. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered. "Take him to the hospital wing." He yelled at Seamus, before he turned to Harry and Ron's table.

"Potter! Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought it would make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? Another point from Gryffindor." Snape yelled at Harry, who went to argue but was swiftly cut off by Ron.

"Don't push it," He warned. "I hear Snape can get nasty." He whispered to Harry. Danny didn't get that memo.

"Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?" Danny asked, now off his stool and back on the ground. Snape glared.

"Students have to learn from their own mistakes." Snape replied, lessening his glare in favor of turning it into something akin to a scrutinizing gaze.

"Right, 'cause Longbottom would've learned _so_ much if Potter told him instead." Emma muttered to Daphne, the two giggling after.

"Would you care to repeat that, Miss Vane?" Snape said, rounding on her. She shook her head, but Danny's voice cut in again.

"I would," He interjected. "Why would it be any different coming from a student who obvious also doesn't know what he's doing?"

Snape glared a little and Danny could hear the huff come from Harry. It seemed that nobody could decide whether to be upset at him or agree with him. Hermione was hiding her face in embarrassment for him while Emma and Daphne were trying not to laugh at the backhanded retort.

"Point from Slytherin for questioning my teaching methods, Fenton." He said, before marching back to the front of the class.

* * *

Danny and Hermione were the first two out of the dungeons after their double class. Danny wasn't eager to hang around his fellow Slytherins at the moment and even if Daphne and Emma weren't upset with him, everyone else would be while Hermione just disliked being down there, as it was cold and dark and Snape had totally ignored her.

Although they parted ways, Danny wasn't new to keeping track of every familiar face. Harry and Ron had gone out to Hagrid's shack, while Draco seemed intent to drag his shadows with him to throw rocks into the lake and Daphne and Emma were returning back to the common room to hang out and do homework.

Ah, the wonders of enhanced hearing.

"So, what now?" Danny asked his friend, who shrugged.

"I was thinking about getting a head start on my homework, figure I'll head over to the library. Would you like to join me?" Hermione offered with a roll of her shoulders.

"Maybe later, I need at least a half hour before I can start thinking about more potions and cauldrons again after that lesson. Besides, I wanted to try and teach Shade how to roll over on command." Danny told her.

"Suit yourself. I'll see you later, then." Hermione replied, turning at the next corridor and leaving Danny alone.

Not for long, as his Ghost Sense kicked in. Instincts kicked in and his eyes flashed green, his stance widened, hands balled into fists and knees bent, crouching some and leaning forward ever so slightly to better roll with any punches coming from behind, where an enemy was most likely to strike. Had there been less people around he would've gotten closer to the ground, crouching lower, and turned to set his back against the wall. There were too much people around still for that type of reaction, though.

Luckily, it seemed unnecessary as moments later Sir Nicholas and Bloody Baron floated out of a nearby wall with both looking happy as ever as they greeted him with a bow.

"Hello, Phantom." Sir Nicholas greeted. "Good day?"

"So far so good." Danny replied, glancing around.

"I heard you managed to scare Peeves already, nice going kid. About time he started listening more often." Bloody Baron offered next.

"Yeah, well, he was starting to get on my nerves. He almost blew my secret on my first day here, I would've blasted him into next year if he kept talking." Danny justified himself. "Was there a reason you guys just popped out of the wall, or…?" He continued, unsure.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy talking to the ghosts, but usually it wasn't with so many people around. He was already known as the exchange student, Snape's least favorite Slytherin and the kid who incorrectly burned a match, he didn't need to be branded as the Ghost Kid again, which could lead to people starting to connect his two halves.

"Actually there was, Phantom." Sir Nicholas started. "Dumbledore is getting impatient and I'm afraid we simply can't put his meeting with you off any longer. He wants to meet Danny Phantom today, as soon as possible, with Professors Snape and McGonagall. We told him we'd fetch you."

"Alright, whatever. I'll meet with Dumbledore now." Danny said, glancing around.

It seemed most of the traffic had passed, with the only students still here facing away from him and the ghosts as they continued walking. As the last group that had eyes on him rounded the corner, he waited a few seconds so his rings of light wouldn't catch in their peripheral vision and transformed.

"Lead the way." Danny said, now in Phantom form. Sir Nicholas and Bloody Baron glanced at each other as they gave him a once over.

"Your ghost form appears… different, than before. Younger as well." Bloody Baron commented.

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Danny asked curiously. The echo in his voice helped a bit with making him sound older than he looked, but the house ghosts shared another glance regardless.

"I suppose not." Sir Nicholas started. "You could just tell them you've been a ghost for years if they give you grief about your age. They'll believe you merely died young."

"Besides, whether you're eleven or not you've done greater things than most wizards ever have in their own lifetimes." Bloody Baron added. "Now, move along. We shouldn't keep Dumbledore waiting much longer."

Just after finishing his sentence, Bloody Baron flew through the wall followed closely by Sir Nicholas and Danny Phantom respectively. They flew through multiple walls and ceilings before they ended up in what Danny assumed to be Dumbledore's office, rising through its floor.

Dumbledore and his beard sat behind a desk with Snape and McGonagall flanking either side of him and the other house ghosts, Friar and Lady Grey, also in the center of the room where he now was with Nicholas and Baron. All the eyes went to the three new ghosts in the room, mainly Phantom, with all the magic-users sizing up the muggle ghost immediately. If Snape's smirk was any indication, they had dismissed him as a threat but Dumbledore sat up straighter, as if sensing Phantom's power where the others had not.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Professors McGonagall and Snape, We'd like for you all to meet the Savior of the Ghost Zone," Sir Nicholas started, waving his arm at Phantom.

"Guardian of the Mortal Plane," Bloody Baron interjected.

"Slayer of all that is evil." Friar added.

"Pariah's Bane." Lady Grey continued.

"Protector of all, Danny Phantom." They finished at once. Danny couldn't help but blush a bit at the introduction.

"Hello, Mr. Phantom. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered, pushing his bowl of muggle candy closer to Phantom.

"Hello Headmaster Dumbledore, nice to meet you." Danny said, bowing slightly before taking a step forward. "Thanks." He said, taking a lemon drop from the bowl with a smile and plopping it into his mouth. Dumbledore nodded.

"Danny Phantom has my blessing to enter and reside on Hogwarts grounds." The headmaster gave his approval.

Snape, McGonagall and Phantom all wore matching expressions of shock and surprise while the ghosts nearly cheered.

"What do you mean, Albus? You've said five words to him, how did he earn your approval so easily?" McGonagall questioned.

"And look at him. He looks no older than a first year student. Would you allow them to do whatever it is he'll be doing?" Snape added, pointing furiously at Phantom.

Danny was about to argue with the logic that he had merely died young and that he was older than he appeared, but Dumbledore spoke first.

"Young he may be, but his morals are unbreakable and he is wise beyond the years of any seventh year student. And look, he's completely solid. Not like any of the others we have here." Dumbledore explained.

It took both professors a moment longer to realize that yes Phantom was solid. They'd even seen him eat a lemon drop without it falling through him.

"Are you another poltergeist?" Snape asked angrily, reaching for his wand. "The last thing we need is another-" He started, but Bloody Baron cut him off with a growl.

"I'll have you know Phantom is _much_ more powerful than a mere poltergeist." He said, very unsure of himself.

"And much nicer." Lady Grey added, getting nods from Sir Nicholas and the Friar.

"How is he solid, then?" McGonagall asked. It was Sir Nicholas that answered this time.

"He's a muggle ghost. Muggle ghosts are more powerful than wizarding ghosts, although nobody knows why. All muggle ghosts are a lot more tangible, colorful and have a much wider range of abilities than any wizarding ghost." Sir Nicholas informed them.

"Tell me, Phantom, what are your abilities?" Snape scowled out.

"Intangibility, invisibility, flight, Ecto-powers and, uh- I can do this." Danny listed, before he let his legs disappear into a ghostly tail. All the magic folk looked at his tail questioningly for a moment as Danny internally smiled.

He didn't want to reveal all his powers yet, in case they turned on him. He learned it was better to keep certain powers under his hat, if they were prepared for his powers it was better it was the basic ones, those were harder to hide anyway. He could keep a lid on the others well enough until he figured out whom he could trust fully.

"Ecto-what?" Snape asked sourly, McGonagall and Dumbledore still fixated on his tail.

"Ecto-powers, like this?" Phantom said, creating a little ball of Ectoplasm in his hand and let it fly around the room. It went all over, to the doors and behind the magic folks heads, Danny thought Snape was going to hide in his robes when he made it fly over the potions teachers head.

"Impressive." Dumbledore commented. "It almost looks like a Snitch."

Danny decided it would be better if he didn't ask what in the name of Clockwork a Snitch was and simply dissolved the ball.

"I suppose he could stay for a while. As long as he offers his protection in the case of something coming up." McGonagall said with a sigh. Phantom nodded.

"Of course. Just yell if you need me." Phantom said, bowing again to the wizards and witch. "I'd be happy to help with anything I can. If that's all," He started next, unsure. "I guess I'll take my leave. It was nice meeting you, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall." He paused. "And you too, Professor Snape." He added as an afterthought.

With one final smirk, Phantom disappeared, flying through the door to Dumbledore's office. The ghosts chuckled and Dumbledore smiled over at them.

"I must apologize to you all," Dumbledore addressed the ghosts. "I see now you were correct, and that Danny Phantom is no threat." He said earnestly. The ghosts nodded in unison.

"Quite alright, quite alright." Sir Nicholas brushed off for them all.

"As long as you see now Phantom is a friend, not a foe, there is no harm done." Bloody Baron continued. Snape growled.

"He's just a boy! He couldn't possibly be prepared for anything the wizarding world has to go against! What if You-Know-Who is actually still out there? Are we to send the poor boy out there to battle alongside our most skilled Aurors and ask him to take on the most despicable wizard the Wizarding World has seen in nearly a century?" Snape ranted.

"All the ghosts have repeatedly informed us that he can take care of himself fine, and I trust their judgment. They know more of him than I do, and even then I can sense the power the boy holds. Therefore, Danny Phantom will be staying at Hogwarts until whenever he pleases." Dumbledore replied strongly. Snape sighed.

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore." He agreed. McGonagall nodded and Dumbledore smiled.

"Good." He paused. "Have a lemon drop, Severus." The old wizard encouraged, sliding the bowl over to him. Snape just glared.

* * *

 **Down and out, guys!**

 **Sorry for the delay, I returned to school last week and it's been a pretty hectic week since then. I can't promise updates will be as often as they just were since I'm back in school, but I won't go AWOL again.**

 **What are your thoughts here, guys? I'm trying to fix one of the mistakes I think I made in the original where I put the Golden Trio (and by default, Danny) together too soon, so if you didn't notice I'm putting more separation between the two sides of Harry/Ron and Hermione/Danny for now.**

 **Don't forget to review, guys, and I'll see you next time!**


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